Harry Potter and the Order of the Cherry Blossom
by Mikazukino Hikari
Summary: Yes, another HpCCS crossover. Or is it? What if Sakura and Harry met but things didn't change all that much? (Better explination inside)
1. PrologueAuthor's Note

Normally I'd have a prologue here but since there are a number of things I need to explain which are basically the prologue themselves, I'll just do that here.  
  
Where things are:  
  
Card Captor Sakura:  
This takes place approximately two years after the second movie ended. It mostly follows the Anime plot line, ie. 53 (with Hope) Cards, Meilin etc. However, there are things I've taken from the Manga which will be revealed as you read. At this point as well Sakura's family also knows about her magic. And I think that's all that needs to be said on this matter.  
  
Harry Potter:  
This story takes place during the Fifth Year. So much so that up til Chapter ten in HP and the Order of the Phoenix can be considered the prologue. For the people who don't remember the beginning so well, this is when they get on the Hogwart's Express. I don't think there is real need, but for anyone who doesn't remember the first few chapters, you may want to read them.  
  
This story is an AU story. But it's not like the other HP/CCS crossovers. Instead, I am trying to answer the 'what if Sakura went to help Harry?' question by sticking as close to the book as possible. The plot line and major events will still be the same, but character development HOW things happen and things like that will be different. Since this story is just keeping that close I have chosen not to commit plaugirsm and copy entire sections from J.K.Rowling. Instead I have chosen only to write the scense that are different, and most are. Things that I have not written about or touched on at all are still there or similar.  
  
I hope that's not too confusing. If it is, as the chapters progress I'll include more of what people ask me to in order to make it less confusing.  
  
Onward! 


	2. The Letter

YAY! Second story! And I'll warn people now that this one isn't going to update nearly as quickly as the other. But, that's because the chapters are longer ...so I think it balances. Thanks to everyone reading and thanks to everyone who read my other story. With that said, on with the disclaimer.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own CCS. I do not own HP. If I owned either I'd have a whole lot more money and would probably not need to write fanfics to begin with.  
  
The Letter  
  
"Me, too," a voice said firmly from a smiling mouth. Amber eyes were shining and she couldn't resist any more.... "BEEP BEEP BEEP." Sakura's alarm clock began to go off annoyingly ruining one of her favourite dreams. She slowly opened her beautiful green eyes to see the morning sun as it flowed into her room from her window. A small smile remained on her lips as she placed the alarm clock back on her head board and rose to dress. She went through the actions a little mechanically, as she had been more and more prone to do lately. Then she sat down on her bed and remembered her dream again. Sakura looked out the window wistfully. It had been two years since she had last seen Syaoran. While he loved her more than ever, duty called him home shortly after she had confessed her love to them. They were able to exchange the occasional letter, but the Elders decreed that his attentions should be placed on his training which had been lost during his long stay in Tomoeda. And so he trained.  
And Sakura had too. In an effort to remain high spirited over the long days she had started training even harder than before. Tomoyo still regularly showed up for most of these events but there were too many for the best friend to witness them all. But, in the past two years since Syaoran had gone back to Hong Kong her magic had increased rapidly. Kero explained that it was a side effect of puberty, that with natural growth into adult hood her magic would grow with her as would her control.  
The Card Mistress was now more formidable than ever and had learned a lot from Yue and Kero, and even occasionally Eriol when he came to visit for a week or so at a time. She had learned to sense the auras of everyone and not just sourcerers and even to repress her own to the point where it was undetectable. But most surprisingly to everyone, Eriol included, she had gained a control over her Cards that was unexpected.  
Since the battle with the Void, the Cards reacted to her almost instantly ten times better than they had before. They could be summoned to her from long distances and, if need be, she could even tap into their powers without using the wand. But she didn't do that much, since her wand still seemed so much a part of her.  
"KAIJUU! YOU ARE GOING TO BE LATE!"  
Broken from her reverie at last, Sakura looked at the clock and screamed, "Hoe!!" Grabbing her bag she rushed down stairs, rushed through breakfast and set out for school.  
  
"Tomoyo-chan, can you believe the look on sensei's face when I aced that English test! She was so surprised! Remind me to thank Eriol again."  
The half-reincarnation of Clow Reed had been very attentive of Sakura, frequently visiting. One might say that he still felt guilty about the Void Card and forgetting about it, but no one really minded. He helped Sakura develop her magic even more and also taught her English.  
"Sakura-chan is so amazing! She learned a language fluently in just a year!" Tomoyo looked up with starry eyes as she waxed poetic on her favourite topic: the awesomeness of Kinomoto Sakura.  
"Tomoyo-chan," the blushing girl objected to little success. "Oh! Otousan has invited you to dinner tonight. He heard we had a project to do and thought your mother might be happier to know you ate at my house rather than going home hungry."  
"I'd love to! I'll call okaasan the moment we walk in the door."  
"Hai," Sakura smiled. The two girls grinned at each other and walked to the Kinomoto residence holding hands and talking without a care in the world.  
  
"Maybe if we did it this way," Tomoyo said, looking at their project with her head tilted.  
"You think? I mean- HOE!!!" The honey haired girl broke off as an owl flew into her open window and fluttered around the room a minute before landing tiredly on her headboard.  
"An owl? I wonder where that came from."  
"Help me get it out of here, Tomoyo-chan. Kero-chan hates birds and I just know he'll go ballistic if he comes up from eating pudding and sees an owl."  
"Hai, Sakura-chan. Matte, what is that it's holding?"  
The raven haired girl walked up to the owl and took the letter from its talons. A moment later the owl took off and flew out the obliging window with a small hoot. They girls looked at each other then quickly looked back at the letter.  
  
Ms. Kinomoto and Ms. Daidouji  
Upstairs bedroom  
Kinomoto Residence....  
  
"Uh, they are very exact aren't they, Tomoyo-chan?" she asked a little hesitantly as she opened the letter and read through it. "Hoe?!" Quickly she read through it again.  
"Daijoubu desu ka, Sakura-chan?" Tomoyo inquired.  
"Tomoyo-chan, I think you need to read this." She handed the letter to her best friend who read it out loud.  
  
'HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZADRY  
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore...etc.  
  
'Dear Miss Kinomoto and Miss Daidouji,  
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Normally we accept students when they have reached age 10-11 and they start as First Years. However, due to understandable events, the issue of your acceptance letter was delayed until your present ages of fourteen. It is understandable that you have many questions but please trust that all of them will be answered if you come to Hogwarts.  
Enclosed is a set of directions for where you need to go to get school supplies, what supplies to get and information on how to get to Hogwarts itself. I hope that any further objections will be quelled when I state that I have been in correspondence with Mr. Hiiragizawa for many years and he wishes you to come as well.  
Term begins on September 1. Please send your response care of Mr. Hiiragizawa no later than July 31.  
  
Yours sincerely,  
  
Minerva McGonagall,  
Deputy Headmistress'  
  
When Tomoyo stopped reading she refolded the letter and the two girls looked at each other.  
"What do you think Tomoyo?"  
For a long moment the raven haired girl only looked forward before breaking into a magnificent grin. "I think I have a whole new set of people to introduce the wonders of Sakura-chan to!"  
"Hoe..."  
  
Two months later, in the last week of August, Sakura and Tomoyo were introduced to the wonders of Diagon Alley. They stared in amazement at the things around them and Sakura could hardly keep her jaw closed as she watched the different auras bump against each other and either mingle or sizzle with hatred. The past couple of months had been hectic, trying to convince both families that the idea was sound and that it was best for them.  
And trying to convince Tomoyo that she actually had magic.  
"See Tomoyo, the auras around here are just like yours! I told you they didn't make a mistake. Your magic is just different from mine!"  
The amethyst eyed girl smiled sweetly and took her best friends hand as they made their way down the street to Gringotts to exchange their 'muggle' money. The goblins surprised both girls but they played it off well. The creatures they had run into during the long process of capturing and changing the Cards had more than prepared them for some of the weirder things in life. Even if it was a brand new life.  
They had both bought a good sized amount of money, much more than they really needed, and hid it safely in their pouches. "Now, I'm guessing we should go to your favourite place, Tomoyo. The clothes shop," she sighed as they headed to Madam Melkin's.  
"You are going to look so KAWAII!"  
  
After they bought their uniforms they went to Ollivander's Makers of Fine Wands since.... "Hoe, they've been around a very long time haven't they Tomoyo?"  
"Just go in, Sakura-chan," the raven haired girl said pushing her friend in.  
"But it's going to be weird having a different wand," the other girl said clutching the Star Key which was much larger than usual and looked more like a pendant than a charm. "I mean, it won't be half as long will it?"  
"Who knows? But now I get to emulate Sakura-chan and have a wand of my very own." Tomoyo was gushing and her eyes sparkled as they waited for someone to attend them. After a moment a very ancient looking man came to the front and eyed them carefully.  
"New wands? I don't remember selling you two ones before so are you just younger than you look or did you buy elsewhere?"  
The two girls were confused and finally Tomoyo said, "Neither, sir. But we do need new wands."  
"Well, then I suggest we start. Come to me young miss and tell me which is your wand hand."  
Tomoyo went through a few different wands before finally the man handed her the correct one. "Ah, very nice. Seven and a half inches. Oak and Holly with Phoenix feather. Very good for Transfiguration. Take care of it. Now you miss?"  
Sakura stepped forward a little shyly and indicated her right hand as which one was dominant. Ollivander thought he had another tricky customer on his hands from the way she looked but when he turned around a wand fell off the shelf and landed directly in front of him. Sakura cringed since she had almost been expecting something like that to happen.  
"Now, that doesn't happen very often. Why don't you try this Miss Kinomoto."  
Sakura reached forward and took the wand in her hand. It felt right, the way her Star Wand did and she immediately liked it. When she flicked it a series of small cherry blossoms flowed out from the tip.  
"Very nice. Eleven and three-quarter inches. Cherry and Yew. Core is a unicorn hair, from the purest I ever saw too. It fits you miss." They paid their sum and walked from the shop, both feeling a little weird from the sensation the old man had but both were well pleased.  
"I guess we should get our books next, ne, Sakura-chan?" Tomoyo chimed, taking her hand and heading towards Flourish & Blotts.  
Two hours later they had gathered all supplies except for their familiars. The girls were tired and the bags were heavy so they stopped in the Leaky Cauldron, where they were staying until school stated, to unload and discuss which animals to buy.  
"One of us should buy an owl, Sakura. That way we have a permanent way of conversing to and from the wizarding world even when we are back home."  
"I want a cat though. I miss Kero." She sighed and remembered the conversation she had had with her two Guardians.  
"Yue-san, Kero-chan, you can't come with me! I mean, Yukito-san isn't a student and Kero-chan would be too noticeable. You have to stay here!"  
"We are coming with you!" they yelled in unison.  
Sitting down hard on the bed, Sakura sighed and tried to think of a solution to their problem. At last she thought of something. Slowly she turned back to her two guardians who were glaring at her.  
"You may come with me IF you agree to one of my two conditions."  
"What are they?" Yue asked.  
"Since I can't have you around physically I can bind you into the book, where you can leave if I'm in trouble or if I let you out."  
"Unacceptable. We wouldn't be there to protect you like we should," Yue growled.  
"Grumpy is right, Sakura. We need to be easier to free than that," Kero sighed.  
"Or, choice two is you can reside in my wand like you did when I battled it out against Eriol. Either way, Yue-san, Yukito-san will have to be away from oniichan which isn't the best in my mind."  
The Moon Guardian glared at her then looked at his fellow guardian. They seemed to be making up their minds without verbal conversation. After a few minutes, Yue said, "We'll go into your wand. It is better. And Touya will get over it."  
"Sakura-chan?" Tomoyo asked, breaking into her thoughts at last. "Daijoubu?"  
"Oh, hai. Sorry, Tomoyo-chan. I think I'll get a cat. You can get an owl."  
Tomoyo nodded in agreement. After a few minutes they went out into the madness that was Diagon Alley and found Eeylop's Owl Emporium where Tomoyo bought a lovely silver and black owl with startling blue eyes. She promptly named it Yamazaki.  
"Why Yamazaki, Tomoyo-chan?"  
"It sounds like something he would make up," she replied with a grin.  
  
After a few minutes they found the Magical Menagerie that sold other sorts of animals. Sakura looked around for awhile before settling on a black and white kitty. She paid for it, giggling as it started to hiss at everyone who came too near its new mistress. So she named it Touya.  
"Why after your brother?" Tomoyo inquired with a laugh when they returned to their room.  
"Because he's already over protective," Sakura giggled. "Maybe he's channeling the spirit."  
The two girls giggled and settled into bed, hardly being able to wait for the week to pass and for their new school life to begin.  
  
"Hoe! Why do I always oversleep?!"  
The voice was loud and carried over the various people who were milling around the train platforms. They were barely able to catch sight of to pretty girls, one with a large pendant swinging to and fro, before they were past and gone. They reached the platform between 9 and 10 and stopped suddenly.  
"Uh, Tomoyo-chan, do you see a Platform Nine and Three-quarters?"  
"No, Sakura-chan."  
The sourceress sighed and closed her eyes. She focused her energy and searched the area for a sign of any strong magic that would be hiding something as large as a train. After a moment she felt a strange aura, similar to Tomoyo's and the other witches and wizards she had come across. She slowly went towards it and opened her eyes to find she was standing directly in front of a wall.  
Turning to grin at Tomoyo, she laughed, "Let's just hope I don't break my nose!" She grabbed her trolley, took a deep breath and charged through the wall, thankfully through it and not into it. She was quickly followed by Tomoyo. Both stopped to look at the amazing sight before them, a sizable train with shining red paint and various people milling around in front of it. They were so awe struck that the sound of the whistle blowing startled them.  
"Come on before it leaves without us, Sakura-chan!"  
They quickly gathered their belongings, settled Touya on his owners shoulder and made their way into the train. They walked a good ways before they realized an empty compartment would be too much to hope for. They continued walking towards the back, looking for one with room left when Sakura felt a familiar presence. Gasping she started running down the length of the train, Tomoyo following confusedly behind, until she stopped still in front of one compartment.  
Quickly sliding the door open she glanced inside at the two occupants who were looking at her in shock. The girl was seated, her long black hair down and around her shoulders as she held a small cat in her hands. Her red eyes were widened beyond belief as she stared. But Sakura couldn't tear her eyes off the boy who had turned around to face her from putting the bags in the storage. His amber eyes were partially covered by chocolate brown hair.  
"Syaoran-kun!"  
"Sakura-chan?" he stuttered before the honey haired girl threw herself into his open arms. "I didn't know you would be coming here," he whispered, holding her close to him.  
"Daidouji-chan, you're here too?" Meilin asked pointedly ignoring the happy couple.  
Tomoyo sighed, wishing she had her video camera available to her to capture the absolutely adorable moment. Instead she smiled at Meilin. "Apparently I'm a witch. Who knew? I'm assuming you are as well and that is why you are here?" She asked tilting her head to one side questioningly.  
"It shocked the Elders. I got the last laugh, finally proving that I did have magic in me." The Chinese girl grinned haughtily before she was tackled in a hug.  
"Meilin! Sorry I didn't greet you before hand. How are you? You got taller!" Sakura was gushing at seeing her friend after so long. "Why didn't you write to say you were going to Hogwarts?"  
"Same reason you didn't, Kinomoto."  
Sakura blushed. Suddenly she realized that the door was still open and their baggage was all over the place. With a small laugh she and Tomoyo stored their bags in the above head compartments and sat down happily opposite their friends.  
"When did you get your letter? How long have you known?"  
"We got it around May I think. It took almost this long to convince Auntie that she could part with her son again."  
Syaoran blushed. "Mother will be happy to know you are here, Sakura- chan. She was always asking about you."  
Sakura blushed but then they passed into easy conversation, catching up on various things.  
  
Across the hall, Harry was talking to Neville about his new plant, Mimbulus mimbletonia, which was somewhat odd looking almost like a small cactus covered in boils rather than spikes and it glowed a little every time someone mentioned its name. Harry always knew that Neville was best at Herbology and his aunt gave it to him over the holidays. Neville was trying to show Harry what it did when it suddenly sputtered a liter of puss and goo onto everyone in the compartment. Luna saved herself with her magazine and Ginny with her arms but Harry was covered in the mess. And of course at that moment Cho Chang opened the door.  
"Hiya, Harry. Did I get you at a bad time?"  
Harry sighed, cursing his own fate again as he wiped off his glasses. "Hi," he muttered blankly, trying to think of something to say through the large amounts of goop all over him.  
"I guess, well, I just came to say hello. I'll be going now. 'Bye then."  
She closed the door, obviously embarrassed. Harry shared in that feeling, wishing that he could have seen his long time crush come to him while he was sitting with rather cool people, looking very handsome. But instead he got Luna and a stuttering Neville as he apologized profusely and horrible sap. It fit that it would be these people after all. After a moment, though too late to regain his lost male pride, Ginny pulled out her wand and yelled, "Scourgify!"  
Everyone, now clean, turned to look at the door as it opened again, this time revealing the two new Gryffindor prefects. "Hiya, Neville," Ron grinned. "Did I just see Cho leaving, Harry? Is that good news?"  
"No," Harry muttered, looking away, resisting the urge to wipe the grin off his friends face, despite his good intentions.  
"Anyway, Ron, Hermione, this is Luna Lovegood," Ginny answered the unasked question. "She's from my year but a Ravenclaw."  
"A pleasure to meet you," Hermione smiled at the younger girl who merely glanced up from the magazine she was reading and nodded before going back to reading. The two prefects glanced at each other in confusion before shrugging.  
"Oh yeah, Harry, Ginny, guess what?"  
"What?"  
"They just told the prefects that there are four new students."  
"Ron, there are a whole year full of new students," Ginny said rolling her eyes at her elder brother. "That's not news."  
"What he means is that there are four new students that aren't first years technically speaking. They are around our age. In fact I think I saw them just across the hall so I'm going to go say hi. Anyone care to join me?"  
Neville decided to stay behind with his new plant, obviously afraid of a repeat of what had happened earlier. He was never really good with new people and Harry agreed silently that it might be a good idea for him to stay away rather than embarrass them all again. Instead, Neville asked everyone to give him a full list of details when they returned.  
Harry and Ginny got up to join her, Ron following, and Ginny asked, "Why are they coming in so late?"  
"No one knows," Hermione said before opening the door to the compartment.  
  
Sakura, who had been standing to get something from her bag, turned to look at the four people at the door. For a moment she was rather startled by their facial expressions but then she gave them a breathtaking smile.  
Harry and Ron were immediately captivated. At first they had seen the other two girls, who were beautiful beyond human belief, but when the third turned around and the sun shone on her honey hair and her twinkling green eyes reflected her smile, they swore they were looking at a veela.  
For a moment nobody spoke, each side waiting expectantly until Hermione rolled her eye and pushed her way to the front extending her hand to the girl who was standing.  
"Hi, my name is Hermione Granger. I'm a prefect for Gryffindor House and a fifth year. This is Ginny Weasley and her brother Ron Weasley. Ginny is a fourth year and Ron is fifth year like me and also a Gryffindor prefect."  
Sakura frowned for a moment before taking the extended hand and shaking it. She had no clue what a prefect was but it sounded important. She looked to the second boy, with the black hair and green eyes, to introduce himself.  
"Heh, you probably already know who I am," Harry muttered in annoyance. He was used to the shocked looks of disbelief and so was very startled by her reply.  
"Actually, I have no idea." Her accent was vaguely British and he liked the sweet tone of her voice. Especially since it denied knowledge of him, which was a new sensation.  
"Oh, well," he stuttered looking at the others who were a bit nonplused themselves. "I'm Harry Potter, a fifth year in Gryffindor."  
The green eyed girl smiled at him in a way that made his heart flutter and Hermione glare at Ron. "I'm Ki- Sakura Kinomoto and I'm from Japan. This is Tomoyo Daidouji who is also from Japan. And this is Meiling Li and her cousin Xiao Lang Li from Hong Kong." Everyone bowed slightly when their name was said and it was Hermione and Ginny's turn to go slack jawed when they focused on Syaoran for the first time.  
He shifted uncomfortably in his seat under the stare of the two strangers but couldn't help being amused that Sakura had introduced him not only by his proper name but as Meilin's cousin.  
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Tomoyo said with a smile. "I hate to sound ignorant but I'm going to assume that a prefect is something like a student counsel or something?"  
The term was foreign to Ginny and Ron who looked at each other in confusion but Harry and Hermione who had grown up in the muggle world nodded. "Yes, we help other students and can give out minor punishments in the teachers' stead."  
Sakura laughed a little nervously. She was always doing things she wasn't supposed to. But after a moment she smiled. "Would you tell us a little about Hogwarts? We don't know much at all about it actually. See we went to ordin- uh, muggle schools before now."  
"Why is that?" Ron asked, still a little in awe of the girl in front of him.  
She shrugged and looked at her friends for help. When they didn't offer any she rolled her eyes. Why did she have to be the spokesperson? Meilin was usually the loudest.  
"We don't know. We just got our letters a couple months ago and that's the first we heard of any school for Witchcraft and Wizardry as well as the fact that Tomoyo and Meilin had any magic at all."  
Hermione noted the way she only pointed out the other two girls but didn't comment. Instead the others crowded into the compartment and helped the newcomers with a few of the odds and ins that most students learned in their first year. About ten minutes into the conversation the door slid open again, drawing the eyes of all eight occupants. There just simply wasn't anymore room.  
"If it isn't little Potty and his followers. Are you recruiting now?" Draco Malfoy asked in an acidic voice.  
Before Harry could reply or Ron could hit the blonde boy, Sakura once again stood and smiled at the three people in the door. "I'm Sakura Kinomoto. Who are you?"  
"The name is Draco Malfoy. This is Crabbe and Goyle. It would be good for you to remember those names, mudblood."  
The honey haired girl was a bit startled by the ice cold tone in his voice. It wasn't often that someone spoke down to Sakura, who was generally loved for her kind nature, even if she didn't realize her own mass popularity. She looked around at Ron and Harry who were being restrained from doing violence against the boy and she realized that the name he had called her must have been a bad one. So did Syaoran who immediately stood up.  
"No, Syaoran," she smiled, holding up a hand.  
"Calling off your body guard already?" Malfoy smirked. "You think a little girl like you can fend me off."  
She sighed, not liking to have to fight people she just met. "Easily," she stated, her eyes glazing over slightly as she focused deeply. The compartment went still for the barest of instants in anticipation before the three figures in the door way were shoved forcefully back into the corridor by unseen hands and the door shut neatly behind them. Sakura smiled and turned back to her friends.  
The two Weasleys, Harry and Hermione were staring at her with slacked jaws and wide eyes. That bit of magic was something completely unfamiliar to them, and in their years at Hogwarts they had seen quite a lot. The slight girl had used great magic without even a wand nor uttered an incantation. Or had she used a wand? Perhaps she had and they didn't see from their odd angle, but Hermione very much doubted it.  
"Is that what we have to look forward to?" Meilin asked without bothering to hide her obvious contempt.  
The others were startled from their awed state at the new voice, since Meilin had neglected to speak throughout the whole of the conversation so far.  
"Please don't judge us by Malfoy. He's a contemptible Slytherin whose father is a Death Eater," Hermione pleaded.  
"Fine, we'll judge by you," the Chinese girl said with her red eyes grinning.  
"I'm sure you could use a better frame of reference since we hardly act as proper students ourselves. Anyway, I think we should return to our own compartment now so that we can change into our robes. We'll see you at the Sorting though," Hermione smiled.  
"Perhaps one of you will even be in our house," Ron added, making it perfectly obvious who he hoped that 'one' would be.  
Ginny rolled her eyes and grinned as she left the compartment with the others, closing the door behind them.  
"Sorting?" everyone asked each other.  
  
When the group had safely returned to their own private compartment, with the company of Luna who was studiously ignoring them for some ridiculous article about Sirius being a singer and Neville, they looked at each other in amazement.  
"Did you see that? She did magic without a wand! That is very powerful magic!" Hermione was gushing. Harry and Ron looked at each other with the familiar feeling that they would be spending a lot of time in the library this year as well.  
"So really not only is she as beautiful as a veela but she is amazing as well." Ron turned to Harry and Neville. "One of us has to marry her now. It's absolutely certain. May the best mate win?"  
"Is she really that beautiful?" Neville asked. "I think I regret not going." Ron and Harry immediately began a full description of the girl they had just met, impressing their friend greatly.  
Hermione looked at the boys with barely suppressed anger. "Stop that! She might be dangerous!"  
"What her? She's all smiles and laughter. I don't think she could hurt a fly, a gnat."  
Ginny rolled her eyes and giggled while Hermione fumed. "Yes, and everyone thinks that Si-Ruffles is a cold-blooded killer and that Harry is insane. Impressions are not truth, Ron. You'd think you would have realized that by now!"  
"Well, sorry Miss Intellect. Why don't you tell us what is so worrisome about this girl?" he said before eating a chocolate covered frog.  
Hermione glared and looked like she was about to argue further but decided against it, much to the relief of Harry and Ginny who rolled their eyes.  
"Well first is the way she handled Malfoy. She not only didn't use a wand but she didn't say anything out loud, that I could hear anyway, and she didn't move her hands at all. She just used her will alone. That is very powerful stuff. I don't know if Dumbledore could do that."  
The idea of a small girl who didn't know what a prefect was being more powerful than Dumbledore was a bit hard to believe and so the collective faces showed, excepting Neville who looked impressed, until Hermione brought up her next point.  
"Also, if you remember rightly, Sakura said that nobody knew Tomoyo and Meilin had any magic."  
"And?" Ron asked stupidly.  
Ginny rolled her eyes, understanding where her friend was going. "That means that she and the boy knew about their own magic." She paused and thought for a moment. "But they didn't know about schools for witches and wizards. Isn't that a bit odd?"  
The group thought over this for awhile before Luna humphed over the whole conversation and started speaking her mind. At the point where Hermione insulted Luna's father's business and Harry was reading the magazine upside down in an attempt to control his anger which was threatening to boil over, Ginny decided it would be better to talk about how cute that boy was and what year he was going to be in, which they did until the train reached Hogwarts. 


	3. The Sorting of Sourcerers

Bonzai! I only had my story up for a few hours, less than a day, and already I got ELEVEN reviews. I love you people! And to answer all questions: SS? Depends on which view you are looking from. Since there are different people who see different views in this story it may not always seem so, but I think this chapter will make the truth obvious. So read.  
  
NOTE: The CCS characters will go back and forth between speaking English and Japanese. I won't usually state it because that just gets monotonous. However, it will be shown by the usage of '-chan' '-san' and other such Japanese words (with the exception of Oniichan occasionally) If it gets too confusing just tell me and I'll make effort to make it m ore obvious.  
  
Shameless Plug: My dearest friend, Narukami Aiko, is writing a Hp/CCS crossover as well, entitled Harry Potter and the Order of Sorcerers. We both started writing ours at the same time, though admittedly she writes more than I do since I was juggling DotS,SotM. It's a really good read and I suggest that everyone go read it if they like my story. Some of the events in our stories are almost identical...but weirdly enough this was almost completely coincidental. We just think along really similar lines. Friends do that. Anyway, Shameless plug over.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Card Captor Sakura. But meh, I'll write something that'll make me just as much money. . I hope.  
  
The Sorting of Sourcerers  
  
When the train pulled to a stop evening had already fallen and the castle that was their new school awed the four new students. Hermione had informed them that their luggage would be dealt with and so to leave it where it was and just exit the train normally. But normal wasn't what Sakura felt and she found herself unconsciously gripping the pocket sewn into the inside of her skirt where her Cards were hidden.  
Syaoran noticed how nervous she was and tried to reassure her but he wasn't very calm himself when he stepped out onto the pavement. Nevertheless he felt obligated to comfort the girl he loved and whispered in her ear, "Remember your spell, Sakura."  
She turned and smiled up at him. It marveled her at how much he had grown in the past year and more. She herself had grown a few inches but he was almost as tall as her brother now. The four stood for a moment wondering which direction they were supposed to be heading, with the first years or with the older students and were at last informed by the Head Girl to go with the carriages.  
As she drew closer Sakura marveled at the creatures harnessed to the carriages. She was about to ask someone about them when she heard Harry discussing them. Despite the fact that he kept pointing directly at them, it appeared that he was the only one who could see them. It was obvious from the look on his face that he was afraid that they were either playing a joke on him or that he really was going insane.  
After a moment she noticed a girl whisper something to Harry and he looked around nervously, obviously more worried than before. When he began to look around nervously, she made effort to catch his eye and finally did. She smiled at him and deliberately reached out to pet the creature for a moment before smiling again. She waved at him again before hearing Meilin gripe at her and turning to join them in the carriage.  
Harry watched the girl get in the carriage smiling at him. The beautiful girl had so obviously heard the conversation he had been having and was trying to reassure him. Harry knew then that the girl couldn't be too evil when she did something so nice for someone she didn't know. He would have stood there staring for much longer if Hermione and Ron hadn't started bickering again and forced his attention elsewhere. With a sigh he got in and sat beside Ginny who looked at him and rolled her eyes in a significant way at her elder brother and friend. He whole heartedly agreed.  
  
As the four new students walked up to the castle they could hear many whispered conversations about them. Mostly they were able to ignore it since it wasn't the first time they had been whispered about and it wouldn't be the last, but it was an inauspicious way to begin the school year. Most especially when a stern lady in emerald robes and brown glasses with her hair tied tightly in a bun walked directly up to them.  
"Misses Kinomoto, Daidouji, Li and Mr. Li," she said nodding to them each in turn. "I am Professor McGonagall, if you would please follow me. The Headmaster wishes to speak with you."  
Sakura swallowed nervously as the whispers increased in volume. They had barely arrived and already they were in trouble? She was already nervous and this just topped it. Nervously she looked at Syaoran as if the world was collapsing and she needed his help to survive.  
Syaoran looked at her and wanted to laugh but instead rolled his eyes. "Sakura, he probably wants to speak to us about our transfer. We aren't in trouble. If we were we wouldn't be here to begin with."  
"Oh, I hadn't thought about that." She laughed nervously at her obvious stupidity and her three friends rolled their eyes in familiar exasperation.  
They followed the professor until she stopped in front of an imposing griffin statue that looked so real it made Sakura's skin crawl. She heard the lady crisply say, "Bertie Botts," causing the statue to jump into life, turning like a screw reveal a stairwell. Turning to them Professor McGonagall smiled tightly, seeming more like she was reprimanding them than welcoming.  
"Up you go. Knock on the door politely and he'll let you in. I myself need to see to the first years or I would see you up." She quickly walked away leaving the four looking at each other as if asking what they had gotten themselves into.  
"Xiao Lang, you get to go first," Meilin smiled, shoving him up the stairs.  
"Meiling! Wait a second!" he grumbled as his cousin pushed him forward, causing him to misstep. Regaining his balance with a sigh he began climb the stairs, followed quickly by Meilin then a very nervous Sakura, who was herself being pushed by Tomoyo. When they reached the landing, Tomoyo reached forward and, as instructed, politely knocked three times before waiting. After a moment, an amused voice called out to them through it.  
"Come in, come in children."  
Syaoran cautiously opened the sturdy oak door and revealed a room full of strange curiosities, including a number of portraits that not only had moving and speaking people in them, but some that were completely lacking a subject all together. Wide eyed, Sakura huddled against him reacting similarly to the strange room as she would have the sudden appearance of a ghost, if slightly less loud. After a minute the strange atmosphere broke when an extremely old looking man strode towards them, with all the bounce of someone in their twenties.  
"Ah, I'm so glad to have all four of you here. I was afraid you might not come and visit such a strange place on so little notice. Please come in and sit down. And don't worry Miss Kinomoto, nothing here will harm you."  
She laughed nervously, feeling more than a little foolish and took a seat in between Meilin and Tomoyo, who themselves sighed at her behavior.  
"Perhaps I should introduce myself. I am Professor Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster here at Hogwarts. I can't tell you how glad I am to personally be able to welcome you to this wonderful school."  
There was an unmistakable glimmer of mockery in the man's eyes as he praised his own school. The humour of the man set everyone at ease and caused an instant likeability to the Headmaster. He paused a moment as he resumed his seat and neatly crossed his hands before him.  
"Now it is my job to answer all the questions you have. I'm sure all of you wished to know why you have been brought here, so I'll answer that one first." His expression grew serious. "It is true that our school has been founded to help witches and wizards harness and hone their magical abilities. It is also, one might say, a way of orienting them to their new society and the way of life they will be expected to follow. However, normally we do not accept students who live in other countries so far away since there are schools in Asia which are perfectly good themselves as well as much closer. However, we had our reasons for inviting you to Hogwarts specifically."  
"Why?" Syaoran asked succinctly.  
"Because, Mr. Li, we have need of you here. You may not know, but your friend Mr. Hiiragizawa has been in contact with Hogwarts since he was invited here himself many years ago. He has told us much about the four of you. We actually first heard word about the grand adventures you would be having at least a year before they started. It is assumed that he did so because normally schooling for witches and wizardry starts at eleven, when you were only in the middle of all of it."  
Dumbledore turned his eyes most specifically on Sakura at this point, causing her to blush and look away in embarrassment that someone she didn't know at all knew the events of her life so well. "That is why you are much older than the rest of the first years. Mr. Hiiragizawa was very specific in telling us when you would be ready to come, having not only mastered your magic but also mastered the English language."  
Tomoyo and Sakura glanced at each other, finally getting their answer for why Eriol bothered. They sighed while Syaoran looked irritable. Meilin however was confused and loudly so.  
"But neither Daidouji nor I were directly involved in that so why were we sent letters so late? Especially me, who wasn't even there for most of it."  
"To be honest, Miss Li, because Mr. Hiiragizawa told us that you two were essential to the other two here and that nothing would have been completed without your presence."  
Tomoyo and Meilin stared at each other in mutual surprise. It was the first time anyone aside of Sakura had ever told them they were needed in anything magical related. They were obviously gratified, and it was plain to see that Meilin, who had never met Eriol, instantly liked the boy sight unseen.  
"But we really do have magic don't we? It's not all contrived so we could be here to help again, right?" Meilin asked, still not entirely convinced that she had magic since she had been told for years that she didn't.  
Dumbledore laughed with delight at the girl. "Yes, Miss Li, you and Miss Daidouji are definitely witches. We would never tear someone away from their lives just for the sake of their friends. Most especially when muggles are in danger for their lives in our world."  
The four looked at each other in sudden worry. Sakura opened her mouth to ask what he meant but was cut off by the Headmaster.  
"Now, I have one more thing to tell you two ladies before I have to ask you to excuse the three of us for further conversation, which I'm sure they will relate in full to you later." He grew serious again and looked at both girls in turn. "I cannot stress enough the need to keep the powers of your friends secret for as long as you can. These are unstable times and people with too much magic can find themselves in a tight spot."  
The two nodded their affirmation before rising and quietly leaving the room. The three remaining occupants of the room listened to them whisper excitedly to each other until the closed door blocked the sound from them.  
Sakura and Syaoran stared at the old man for a moment. It was obvious that he knew a great deal about not only their power but the level of trust between the four of them. Sakura couldn't help but be curious about why the Headmaster would demand them to leave if he was sure it wouldn't remain a secret anyway.  
"Because it is directly your business how much you tell your friends," Dumbledore answered the unasked question.  
"Fine, but what is the real reason you invited us here," Syaoran asked curtly.  
"Syaoran be nice!" Sakura hissed, causing him to blush.  
Dumbledore chuckled a little before quickly sobering. "You do not know it, or perhaps you do just not well, but there is a threat to the wizarding world, a very serious threat which threatens the very secrecy of our world and probably your own as well. I believe your family knows of it, Mr. Li."  
"Voldemort," he responded quickly.  
"Who?" Sakura asked. "How come you know and I don't?"  
"Because mother adores you and prefers to keep you cheerful, Sakura, and told me not to tell."  
Sakura frowned then looked to her new Headmaster for guidance who looked a little amused in a sad way.  
"Yes, Mr. Li you are correct, I speak of Voldemort. He wreaked havoc on our world for years until the night he was defeated by unsuspecting baby. But now, through events we can only regret, he has arisen again. He is looking to not only return to the power he once held, but to kill the boy he tried to kill nearly fifteen years ago." Dumbledore sighed sadly before continuing. "This man is the reason for your being brought here. First to protect and second for protection."  
"Protection?" Syaoran asked a little incredulously. It had been a long, long time since someone had said they were going to protect him.  
"Now, now, I realize that the idea of someone protecting you goes against the grain but please listen. Voldemort has heard of the two of you, despite our efforts to conceal that knowledge, but most especially you Miss Kinomoto. He knows that you have great powers and that you are still so young." He paused to smile in wry amusement. "Though, only in form I think. The other wizarding schools around the world could not offer you the shelter that we could. We are one of the first wizarding schools and have the ability to protect you better than most else as well as to keep your secret better kept.  
"But it is also because of your unique and strong powers that we ask you to help us protect the Boy Who Lived. They baby who defeated Voldemort fourteen years ago."  
"Who is that, sir?" Sakura asked politely.  
"Harry Potter."  
She nodded with her mind obviously elsewhere. After a moment she focused her eyes on him again. "But, why us? We are not master witches or wizards. We don't know anything about this man or about Mr. Potter. It doesn't make sense to me. I'm sorry but could you please explain."  
Syaoran looked at his girlfriend in obvious incredulity, surprised again at how slow she could be. He himself understood immediately why they had been asked, or her at least. However she always had lacked self awareness to her better qualities. "It's because you are a sourceress, Sakura. Sourcerers are far more powerful than witches and wizards."  
She blinked her wide green eyes and looked back and forth between Syaoran and Dumbledore. "Really? Are you sure?"  
Syaoran rolled his eyes.  
"He is quite correct, Miss Kinomoto. You will quickly realize this as you start lessons here. And since Mr. Hiiragizawa has informed me that you are the most powerful sourceress in the whole of the world and that Mr. Li is only a small breath behind, it would make sense for us to beg that you assist us."  
Sakura sat wide eyed for a minute, obviously reeling from this new information, until Dumbledore checked his watch and stood up.  
"We need to attend the banquet now children," he said kindly as he led them through his office.  
"But we still do not know much about what we need to know, professor."  
Dumbledore turned to look at her with sparkling knowing eyes. "I think you can find a way to gather information, Miss Kinomoto. Indeed, I think you can do just well."  
  
The four stood nervously with the first years, who were looking at them with a bit of curiosity mixed with awe. In fact the whole of the school had their eyes trained on Sakura and Syaoran once they had entered with the Headmaster. The unusual sight drew eyes at first but the astonishing good looks of the two students accompanying the Headmaster kept them there and more than one student found themselves wishing that the new students would be sorted into their house. Not excluding Harry who couldn't tear his eyes away from Sakura, even though Cho Chang was quite easily in sight and looking at him through teary eyes.  
The students had thought to hear a speech of explanation before the Sorting started but were disappointed when Professor McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat on the stool and the hat began to sing. The song it sang was darker and longer than they were used to hearing and begged for the students to join together and to stand firm, to unite under the name of Hogwarts and not be separated by their houses. The first years and transfer students were a bit unnerved but thought nothing particularly unusual of it since they had never heard the Hat sing before. However murmurs began through the rest of the students about the dark message.  
More than one gaze looked over to the long Slytherin House table and shuddered at the idea of joining up with them. Unity of the Houses at Hogwarts was not something that would come lightly or easily.  
When the hat had finished Professor McGonagall began to call out names alphabetically and the nervous first years went up one by one and waited to hear which house they would belong to. It wasn't long until they heard,  
"Daidouji, Tomoyo."  
Tomoyo squeezed her friends' hands but smiled a little. "At least they pronounced it right." She walked slowly to the stool and sat down. The hat was only on her head for a couple moments before it cried out,  
"RAVENCLAW!"  
The Ravenclaw table burst with applause. They had got one of the beautiful transfer students, the first one to be sorted even. Tomoyo sat down nervously, her mind clearly occupied to the placement of her best friend. The names continued for a few more minutes before reaching the K's. Once they had Sakura began to clutch Syaoran and Meilin's hands fiercely unconsciously.  
"Kinomoto, you are cutting of circulation to my fingers," Meilin complained.  
"Gomen!"  
The Chinese girl merely rolled her eyes before both girls jumped a little when they heard McGonagall cry out, "Kinomoto, Sakura!"  
Taking a deep breath the jade eyed girl slowly walked to the stool and sat on it with a thumping heart. She nearly fell off when she heard a small voice in her head.  
The Card Mistress is at Hogwarts. I am honoured.  
Don't mention it, Sakura thought back a little nonplused. She noticed that other students were looking at her eagerly since the Hat was taking it's time, which it hadn't done so far with any of the other students.  
I know easily where to put you with all your courage and strength, though perhaps I should place you where you would do the most good to the school. No, well then...  
"GRYFFINDOR!"  
Sakura stood a little shakily and replaced the hat. She barely heard the mountain of applause coming from the Gryffindor table, mostly from the guys not excluding Harry or any of the Weasleys. She looked regretfully at Tomoyo, sad that she would be separated from her best friend for the first time since they met, but sat with a smile beside Hermione who was looking at her gleefully along with the rest of her friends. Sakura was happy she knew some people but still looked nervously to Meilin and Syaoran, hoping that one would be placed in her own house.  
"Li, Meiling."  
Meilin sauntered over to the stool and sat for a few moments before the hat cried out, "HUFFLEPUFF!" She smiled and went to go sit at her new table quickly but kept her eye on her cousin who was looking a little green with apprehension.  
"Li, Xiao Lang."  
Syaoran calmly walked to the stool and let the hat be placed on his head. It was obvious to Sakura that the hat was talking to him too from his barely changed facial expression. She gripped the table nervously and waited for the decision to be made.  
"GRYFFINDOR!"  
Both sighed in relief as Syaoran made his way to a seat beside Sakura who hugged him. "Yatta! I thought I we would each be in separate houses!"  
Syaoran rolled his eyes, but still managed a smile, the special kind he reserved only for her. They waited patiently for the rest of the first years to be sorted and watched as Dumbledore stood to make a speech.  
"I think I'll spare the curiosity of our students before I start the banquet instead of making you wait until its finish. Though, now that I think about it perhaps it would be quicker that way. No? Well you have all undoubtedly noticed our four new students who are just a little taller than the rest of the first years." Sakura rolled her eyes since she was only a little taller than the younger students and Syaoran grinned at her appreciatively.  
"These new students are transferring from Japan and Hong Kong to join our studies but not as first years. The three ladies will be joining the Fourth Years and Mr. Li will be joining the Fifth Years. Now, I think that will do for now and everyone can eat their fill. Enjoy!"  
Sakura stared as food magically appeared before her on the plates. It was mostly unfamiliar looking food but she tried some and found it enjoyable.  
"So that means you'll be in my class, Sakura!" Ginny squealed. "And don't worry about your friends, we have Herbology with Ravenclaw and you'll see them here and there in the halls."  
"You are also free to associate between the Houses," Hermione chimed in.  
"Though I recommend you stay away from Slytherin," Harry added with a cold voice and glare to a certain blonde prefect.  
"And the three of you will have class with Syaoran, right? Isn't that great?" she asked turning to the quiet amber eyed boy. He gave her a significant look and she sighed. He didn't always have to be so anti- social. Though, she remembered that he had finally warmed up to their class in Tomoeda, despite Yamazaki's pranks, and smiled.  
"Smhfa cylt..." Ron began before he finished chewing.  
"Ron, swallow your food," Hermione sighed.  
"Yeah, uh, so they called you Xiao Lang but she calls you Siarawn, which do you prefer?"  
"Li," he said wincing at the horrible mispronunciation.  
Sakura giggled. "He doesn't mean to be rude, but he prefers that most people call him by his last name. Also its Syao-ran," she said stressing the pronunciation.  
Ron blinked, not noticing the difference in what she had said and what he had. Sakura caught the blank stare and giggled.  
"He's horrible, Sakura. I wouldn't bother if I were you," Ginny laughed.  
She just smiled with a shrug and began to teach him to pronounce all of their names correctly.  
"Sa-koo-rah Key-no-moe-toe."  
"Sakura Kinomoto," he pronounced correctly.  
She smiled and said, "Toe-moe-yo Die-doe-gee."  
They went on until he managed each of their names. Harry stared at her all the long while. When she had finished teaching him he asked her, "Are you always so patient?"  
"Huh?" she asked dumbly.  
"Yes, she is. And she trusts anyone that talks."  
"Syaoran!" she yelled angrily.  
Everyone laughed and conversed genially, discussing the differences between their different countries. Sakura found herself liking the four a lot. She was even put to a blush when Fred and George made a point of standing up and dramatically kissing her hand in welcome. Students throughout the Hall laughed.  
Nearing the end of the banquet, the large doors into the hall opened noisily and startled everyone out of their conversation. A figure stood in the door wearing dark blue robes that matched his hair and eyes, covered in thin framed glasses. After a second, he began to stride in sure steps towards the Head Table.  
"Must be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," Harry muttered. He was still harbouring feelings of betrayal at the action of last year's and wasn't very comfortable with the idea of a new teacher who most likely would either be evil or horrible at teaching. That was how the luck always ran.  
But most oddly of all the mutterings and stares was of the jade eyed new transfer student who was staring in disbelief.  
"Clow-san?" she asked a little loudly when he neared her, drawing Syaoran's attention as well as Tomoyo's who had been watching her carefully, as usual.  
The man paused and bowed in greeting to her. "Sakura-chan."  
Everyone in the hall grew quiet, wondering what the relationship between the new teacher and the new student was. Syaoran stared desperately at the man who Sakura obviously took to be Clow Reed. He had never seen him but recognized the strong aura from having experienced it many times in the past.  
When the blue haired man reached the table, Dumbledore rose again, indicating the end of the banquet. No one seemed to notice at first, amusing the elder man greatly. When after a minute he began to speak, everyone turned their eyes to him finally.  
"Allow me to introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher who was, unfortunately, running a little behind schedule, perhaps so that he might make such an entrance." When the man sighed quietly, Dumbledore laughed softly before introducing him. "Students meet Professor Eriol Hiiragizawa."  
Immediately the four exchanged looks in silent shock. On the dais, it was quite clear that Eriol was trying desperately not to laugh out loud though he knew he'd be getting an earful later.  
"Do you know him?" Harry whispered to Sakura and Syaoran who nodded without looking at him.  
"Evil bastard, he didn't tell us anything!" Syaoran muttered just loudly enough for his table mates to hear and get worried over.  
Hermione, Ron, Harry and Ginny exchanged looks. Not incompetence apparently, just evil. Status quo.  
"Now for a few start of year announcements. Mr. Filch has a new list outside his door of forbidden items which will be confiscated if found in the corridors. The first years are reminded, as well as a few older students," he said giving a significant look at the Gryffindor table, "who would do well to remember that the Forbidden Forest is off limits to students. With that said I suggest we all head to bed so we can rise early and refill some of those emptied brains."  
The students began to rise and disperse. Sakura grabbed at Hermione. "What is the pass word to get into the dorms?"  
"Why?" the older girl asked a little confused.  
"Because I'm not going there directly and don't know if I can catch up."  
"Oh, well it's Mimbulus mimbletonia."  
Sakura nodded and thanked her before grabbing Syaoran's hand and heading to the head table. Eriol was already standing in front of it and was obviously waiting for them. They reached him approximately at the same time as Meilin and Tomoyo. Most of the students had filed out by then but a few of the teachers remained at the table and were watching the gathering with curiosity.  
"Hiiragizawa you bastard why didn't you tell anyone?" Syaoran asked furiously.  
Professor Snape stood up quickly and glared at the new student. "Mr. Li, I suggest you clean up your language while you are speaking to a professor who requires a higher level of respect than what you are showing."  
"It is alright, Severus. I expected him to say worse and with good reason. Allow me to deal with them."  
Snape looked a bit irritated but stepped to the side, only leaving reluctantly when he realized nothing further would be said while he was still present.  
"Really, Li, you should watch yourself."  
Sakura nodded emphatically. "You are going to get in trouble if you don't. But, Eriol! I agree with him!"  
"Yes, Hiiragizawa-san, why didn't you tell any of us that you were coming and that, well, you were acting your age for once."  
Eriol's lips quivered at Tomoyo's phraseology. "Simply because I didn't know until very recently. Apparently the Ministry of Magic passed an educational degree, twenty something or another, that said they could replace a teacher if one couldn't be found quickly enough. Dumbledore came to me the instant it was passed so that they could not have authority where they should not."  
Sakura nodded, characteristically believing him instantly. Then she rushed forward to give him a hug. "Eriol it's so nice to see you again. You look just like Clow-san! I knew you would, but wow! You have a lot to talk to us about later!"  
"Yes I do. Now why don't all of you go to your dorms before you get lost, which is much easier to do than you might imagine since the stairwells move."  
"What?!"  
  
Sakura and Syaoran stepped out of the doors, following the way they had seen the Gryffindors walking last. They were startled when the saw Harry standing not to far away from them. When he noticed that they had finally seen him he strode over to them quickly with an ironic smile.  
"Hermione thought you would need a hand getting to the dormitory."  
"Thank you, Harry!" Sakura grinned.  
Harry blushed and muttered something along the order of, "She made me do it," before turning to lead them. Eriol had been quite correct and Sakura realized that they would have gotten really lost if they hadn't had help. She looked around at her surroundings, trying to memorize the way there. She also noted how different this place looked from what she was used to. It reminded her of when she had once wished to live in a giant mansion.  
Harry was amused at Sakura's obvious awe of her surroundings. Li didn't seem quite as captivated, almost as if he had seen similar things before. He was very curious about both of them, mostly Sakura, and strove for the courage to ask them questions. Finally, when they were close to their dorms he finally asked, "Uh, how do you know Professor Hiiragizawa? And why did you call him an evil bastard?"  
He noticed significant look that passed between the two, as if they were deciding how much to was safe to tell. Feeling a little bitter, he muttered, "You don't have to answer if you don't want to. Just curious."  
"No! Actually, it's just a complicated answer," Sakura began. "Eriol helped me out when I was younger and we've all known him for years. In a way he's a friend of the family." The green eyed girl broke off, hesitantly and Harry wondered just what she was concealing. "He's also the one who taught me and Tomoyo English."  
"So that's why your accent is British. But why is yours," he asked Li.  
"I come from Hong Kong," he said, as if stating something obvious. The tone of voice reminded Harry that it had been a state of England for sometime and that most people there spoke both languages. Irritably he nodded. The man didn't have to be rude about it.  
"Yep, and Eriol isn't really evil," Sakura continued.  
"That is a matter of opinion," Li muttered causing Sakura to elbow him.  
"He is not! He's nice!" She turned back to Harry with a pleading smile. "Really he is very nice and he acts our age most of the time. Syaoran doesn't like him for some reason though. I guess it's a guy thing."  
Li remained mute.  
Harry nodded. "Reminds me of my godfather. He's a great mate and seems more like my friend than an adult. Oh, here we are," he broke off pointing to the portrait of the Fat Lady.  
"Mimbulus mimbletonia," he said clearly before the painting swung open. They stepped through the portrait hole and instantly the two new students were pounced upon by the rest of the Gryffindors. Everyone began asking them questions and talking loudly around them. Most people introduced themselves from the First Years to the Seventh Years. However Sakura found it hard to remember most of the names and only remembered a few here and there. After a few minutes she was finally allowed to join Ginny on the couch.  
"Hoe," she groaned, as the red-haired giggled. Syaoran was still engulfed in a gaggle of girls who were drooling over him and for a moment she was reminded of his sisters who acted in the very same way.  
"Your friend is very popular, Sakura," Ginny giggled. "Oh, I was meaning to ask: you said that you came from Japan and that Li and his cousin came from Hong Kong so how do you know each other?"  
Sakura blushed a little, revealing something to Ginny and Hermione who was listening to the conversation intently. "They were transfer students at my primary school for awhile. We became really good friends and write to each other. Actually, today was the first time I'd seen Syaoran or Meilin in a couple years."  
Hermione raised her eyebrows. "Really? It looks as if none of you had ever parted from the way you speak to each other."  
Sakura shrugged a little self-consciously. "That is just the way we are I guess. I'm sure if you, Harry and Ron were separated for a few years you would act as if no time had passed." She didn't notice the look that passed between the two girls who knew that wasn't true from the reaction Harry had had when they had reunited that summer only a month after they had all been together. "Anyway, I'm exhausted. Where do we sleep?"  
"Oh, I was going to bed in a moment myself so I'll show you the way if you wish," Ginny answered with a smile.  
"Thank you, just let me say goodnight to Syaoran first."  
  
Harry watched as the beautiful foreign girl smiled up at her friend and gave him a quick hug before following Ginny up the stairs to the girls' dormitory. For a minute he wondered if they were dating but he brushed the idea aside. They acted like good friends but not like any couple he had ever seen. Perhaps there was more to the relationship than they were willing to say but he didn't now what it was. With a sigh he went over to Ron who was about to go up to the dorms himself.  
"Come on, Harry, I heard that Monday was the hardest day of the week for fifth years. We should get some sleep." He looked around and noticed Li. "Oi, Li, need to know where you sleep?"  
Li nodded. "That would be nice," he said a little ironically. Ron didn't notice though and motioned for him to follow. Harry felt a little disconcerted with this boy. There was something about him that made him feel a little uneasy but he couldn't say what precisely. When they reached the dorm Harry changed his clothes quietly before sliding into bed. He watched the foreign boy stare out the window restlessly, clutching something in his hand. Eventually he realized it was a small pink teddy bear with wings. It looked especially odd in such a masculine boy's arms, but also right.  
However, if nothing else it cheered Harry up for two reasons. First, no one could hold a teddy bear, much less a pink, winged teddy bear so sincerely and be evil. Secondly, it proved that Syaoran already had a girlfriend who had given him that bear and it couldn't be Sakura because he would hug her instead of the teddy bear like that. With a happy sigh, Harry went to sleep.  
Which just proves how illogical an adolescent mind could be.  
  
Sakura waited patiently for everyone to go to sleep before pulling the heavy curtains around her bed closed and drawing out her Cards. She prayed that Syaoran was at least laying down before taking a deep breath and singling out the Dream Card. She was afraid to use the wand since it was so long when Yue and Kero were kept in it so she concentrated and took a deep breath. The familiar symbol appeared beneath her, shining brightly in the dim bed.  
"I seek knowledge of the Boy Who Lived. Give a dream to Syaoran and I that gives us knowledge of his past, I call upon thee DREAM!"  
A brighter light flashed before Sakura fell back into her pillows, already asleep. For a moment there was nothing as the Card strived to achieve information and send it to two different sources. Then, in a flash, the two sourcerers dreamt through the story of Harry Potter's life. It took some time and covered everything of importance from the brutal murder of his parents, the way he was treated by the Dursleys, his years at Hogwarts, facing Voldemort again and again in different ways, his godfather, Dumbledore, Ron, Hermione, everything passed into their knowledge. At last the dream ended and both were allowed to pass into real sleep, forever memorizing the information they were just given. As Sakura rolled to her side, tears streamed down her face for the last Potter.  
  
(A/N: I'll post the next chapter after I get done editing it. There still are a few rewrites needed and I want to make sure I catch everything. 


	4. The Term Begins

YAY! AN update! I like updating this story. It's easy for the moment. Anyway...Thanks to the reviewers! You I adore. Thank you to everyone who reads even if you don't review, I love you too!  
  
Response: I was asked why the heck Syaoran was holding a pink teddy bear when we all know that pink (except in relation to Sakura of course) is the root of all evil. Or at least so I say anyway. There IS purpose to this. In the manga Sakura confessed her love to Syaoran by giving him a pink winged teddy bear that she made for him after she heard that he was leaving and she realized how much she adored him. That's one of the numerous things from the manga that will pop up. I will try to explain them if I remember but if not just ask and I'll make a note next time.  
  
Dedication: Narukami Aiko whose story actually has more reviews than mine so I wont tell you to go read because people obviously are. But she's my beta reader of sorts.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own either Harry Potter or Card Captor Sakura. But man if I did...do you realize just how many hot guys would be under my thumb? Syaoran, Harry, the Twins, Wood, Touya, Eriol....anyway...  
  
The Term Begins  
  
The sleep afforded after the Dream Card was so restful that Sakura woke early, nearly before the sun rose. Yawning, she slipped out of bed and looked around the still quiet room. Apparently she was the only early riser of the morning. She changed her clothes silently, carefully sliding the Cards into the secret pocket Tomoyo had sewn into the underside of her skirt, and picked up Touya before making her way down the stairwell into the Common Room. She carried her shoes with her since she was still unused to wearing them inside what was basically her home and wistfully wished that she could roller blade.  
The Common Room was empty but for a small strange looking creature that was tending to the fire. When she approached it, it bowed and left the room quickly. Left alone in the large room, Sakura shrugged and sat down on the couch comfortably. The small kitten began to tromp around her lap and then around the room as a whole. She kept her eyes on it when possible but felt that no harm would come of it so early.  
When she had been there for twenty minutes she heard noise in the stairwell and looked up to see Syaoran yawning tiredly. He walked into the room, glancing around a little, and when he saw Sakura he stopped dead in his tracks. Blinking a few times, as if not quite sure he wasn't still asleep, he finally shrugged and walked over to sit beside her.  
"I can't believe you actually woke up on time," he yawned, letting his head fall back against the couch.  
"Neither can I really," she agreed, leaning her head on his shoulder. After two years of separation it felt nice to just be able to sit with him like this. When they had parted they still blushed half the time that they were together and frequently stuttered. But perhaps the intervening two years had matured both of them because, while she felt more light hearted in his presence, Sakura didn't feel the need to blush or stammer, just to sit and enjoy his company.  
"That boy has had a pretty interesting life, you know," he noted quietly, breaking the silence.  
She nodded. "I can't help but feel sorry for him. Still, he's pretty strong to have survived it all without being a crybaby or ending up in an insane asylum."  
"The same could be said for you, Sakura."  
She shook her head. "Can you imagine me facing a big snake like that?"  
Syaoran rolled his eyes and tried to understand the difference between fighting off a big snake and a full sized dragon. There wasn't one really so instead he closed his eyes again and dozed off a little until he heard her speak again.  
"It's going to be weird not having any of you in my classes. And you are a full year ahead of the rest of us. I just hope the rest of my classmates like me," Sakura sighed, sitting up and away from him as she heard noises coming from the stairwell.  
Syaoran almost objected when she pulled away but stopped himself. Instead he just rolled his eyes and said, "Sakura, the day your classmates hate you will be a fascinating new day." Stretching he stood up. "I left the rest of my things in the room. I came down because I could have sworn that you were down here but I knew that was impossible since you always oversleep."  
"Syaoran!" she yelled annoyed.  
He grinned at her and quickly climbed the stairs before she could throw a pillow at him.  
  
Harry noticed the new student walking into the room in the middle of his fight with Seamus Finningan. When the other boy huffed out of the room, Harry sighed irritably. First he waited around without information for a month while Ron and Hermione got to be in the thick of things, then the Daily Prophet printed out all those lies, now he had to deal with people believing them.  
"What's his deal?" Li asked, gathering his books into his bag and slinging it over one shoulder.  
"Oh, he believes that Harry is crazy or something. Says he's lying about You-Know-Who being back," Ron nearly growled.  
Li looked at Ron for a moment before training his cold amber eyes on Harry. He felt his skin crawl under the fixed gaze which was too intense for someone so young and as care free as he seemed to be the day before. After a moment the Chinese boy rolled his eyes and turned to leave.  
"That's stupid," he growled, walking away. "If you were going to make up a story about the return of Voldemort why not put you out as the hero who defeated him single-handedly in combat? Who would make up a story that so obviously lacked in hero worship?" He climbed down the stairs leaving the rest of the boys staring after him.  
"I'm not quite sure if he just insulted you there, mate," Ron commented as he pulled on his socks.  
"Me neither. But one thing is for sure, he at least believes me."  
Ron nodded and the two boys went down to the Common Room to find Hermione so they could all go to breakfast. When they got there they found her deep in conversation with Ginny and Sakura as they explained to the transfer student the basic time schedule.  
"You'll be getting your schedule of classes at breakfast. You'll have most of them with Ginny, too, so don't be afraid of getting lost," Hermione reassured the worried looking girl.  
"The only difference will be electives most likely. I have Muggle Studies and Care of Magical Creatures. Do you know what you are signed up for?"  
Sakura shook her head, wishing, not for the first time, that she had asked more questions before she agreed to come to the school. "Hoe," she whimpered.  
"What does that mean anyway?" Hermione asked with pointed interest. "I'd love to learn your language!"  
Sakura blinked, not quite knowing how to answer the question. She was rescued by Syaoran though who said, "It doesn't mean anything. It's Sakura's own personal way of expressing anxiety or frustration." She blinked at him. Was that what it was?  
Hermione nodded, obviously making a note in her head. "Does everyone do that?"  
"No."  
The fifth-year nodded again before checking her watch. "We should all head to breakfast now. And don't worry, Sakura, you have Ginny to help you and the rest of us if you get really lost." She smiled in a comforting way and gestured for them to leave the room.  
Sakura got up to follow but had only just when she was pounced on by the two Weasley twins. Startled she stepped back a little and looked back and forth between the two for a moment. When she looked she noticed that one had a royal blue aura while the other had a sky blue. With a deep breath she said, "Now tell me your names again, so I can try to tell you apart."  
The two grinned devilishly at the beautiful girl. "A pleasure, Sakura. I am the handsome one, Fred."  
"And I am the smart one, George."  
Sakura noted that George had the sky blue while Fred the royal. She nodded with an air of someone who figured out a puzzle at last. She gave them both a breathtaking grin, shocking the two figures into a stunned silence for just long enough for her to escape.  
When she caught up with the rest, Ron looked at her and commented, "You know, it's nearly impossible to tell them apart. No one ever managed to do it before knowing them for most of a year."  
"Care to wager on that," Syaoran spoke up unexpectedly with a grin. Sakura shot him a look, which he ignored. Sighing she gave it up, if he wanted to cheat let him have fun at it.  
Ron looked at the boy up and down for a moment, weighing the chances. "I don't know. You seem awfully confidant. I bet you are going to cheat somehow."  
Hermione frowned at him. "Ron Weasley, you are a prefect! You shouldn't be gambling!"  
Ron winced, silenced for the moment at least. Harry rolled his eyes. "I'll take you up on that, Li. What do you say to a galleon?"  
"Sure," the other boy shrugged before shaking hands with Harry to seal the deal. They continued walking until they reached the Grand hall. Sitting down for breakfast, Sakura looked around worriedly, hoping to catch sight of Tomoyo. Unfortunately though, the Hufflepuff table was situated between hers and Ravenclaw so it was hard to pick one person out.  
Midway through the meal, the owls flooded the room, taking Sakura by surprise from the sheer number of them. Some carried letters and others carried packages from parents of forgetful students. One went to a boy name Neville who sighed in relief when he opened it. Towards the end, a beautiful brown owl flew down and landed beside Syaoran.  
"Is that yours, Syaoran?" she asked after swallowing a piece of pancake.  
He nodded. "Mother bought her for me. Actually she probably bought her so that she could pester me about my marks," he sighed as he began to open the letter.  
Sakura reached forward to pet the pretty bird. "What did you name her?"  
"Ying Fa," he replied, glancing up long enough to wink at her.  
Sakura blushed, causing Hermione and Ginny to look at each other and shrug in confusion.  
"Who'd you get a letter from, Li? It's only the first day of term," Ron noted as he ate noisily.  
Li looked at him for a moment, obviously deciding whether or not to answer, before shrugging. "It's from the Elders reminding me to train or else."  
"Are they ever going to leave you alone, Syaoran?" Sakura asked, stealing the letter from him and reading it through.  
"Not until I turn eighteen," he noted dryly.  
"What happens then?" Hermione asked, obviously enthralled at being able to learn about a foreign culture, even second handedly.  
"Huh? Oh, then I become leader of the clan," the Chinese boy noted almost absently, stealing the letter back with a frown for the Japanese girl, who smiled in retaliation. After a minute he realized that the other four had gone silent and were staring at him. "What?"  
"You are going to become leader of your clan?" Hermione asked excitedly. "Is it an important family? Do you have lots of influence?"  
Harry watched the two transfer students exchange looks before in confusion. "The Li family is one of the most influential families in all of Asia," Sakura finally answered, as if stating the obvious.  
"And you are going to lead them? Blimey, what luck! I wish I could lead a bunch of people in a few years." Ron began to stare into space with wide eyes obviously day dreaming about the possibilities.  
"Well, no one else wants you to," Harry laughed. "Though, you might do a better job of running the Ministry than Fudge."  
"Anyone would do a better job than Fudge right now," Hermione agreed, glancing at Ron who suddenly got quiet at the mention of his elder brother's boss. The conversation was interrupted when schedules were passed out. Ginny and Sakura quickly compared and found that Sakura had Divination instead of Muggle Studies, which was reasonable. While she got directions on how to get to Divination, Harry glanced at Li's schedule.  
"Hey, you have all the same classes with Hermione!"  
"Really? Someone else took Arithmancy? See I told you it was an enjoyable class!"  
"What's Arithmancy?" Sakura asked, rejoining the conversation.  
"It's math, your favourite subject."  
Sakura shuddered and was about to comment when she heard someone calling her name. Turning around she saw Tomoyo running to her with almost panicky eyes. "Sakura-chan, we only have one class together and that isn't even until tomorrow! How am I supposed to survive in this new world without Sakura-chan! We've been in the same class for so long! You have to promise me that you will spend every mutual free class we have together. Promise me or else I'll feel so lonely."  
Everyone but Sakura stared at the raven haired beauty in confusion. She was speaking in rapid fire Japanese, obviously upset. But her words were so quickly spoken and teary that Sakura was the only one who could make them out completely.  
"I promise, Tomoyo. Besides, don't you still have at least one class with Meilin? Isn't that nice at least? I don't have any!" Sakura replied in English.  
Tomoyo drew a calming breath and smiled. Sakura was trying to cheer her up again and it worked. With a slight blush she turned to the rest of the group, who were all looking at her with shock. "I'm sorry for disturbing you. Good morning everyone! I hope I see all of you around often! Ja, Li-kun, take care of Sakura-chan for me," she added in Japanese before hugging her friend again and walking back to her own table.  
"Uh," Ron began, "What was she saying?"  
Sakura blushed, without looking at Syaoran who was grinning at her, his eyes begging her to tell the truth. "She was just upset since we only have one class together. And she told Syaoran that she would see him later."  
"I thought I heard your name though," Hermione said, obviously trying to analyze the language.  
"Oh that was nothing. Um, if you are finished Ginny could you show me to the library? I still don't know how to get there and I'm sure I'll need to spend some time there pretty soon." She tried to ignore the way that Syaoran stared at her and gathered her things.  
"Coward," he murmured in her native language.  
"It's private, Syaoran-kun!" she sniffed back, ignoring the questioning looks of their new friends.  
The other fourth year nodded and stood up, grabbing her bag. The two girls left the room talking quietly between themselves. As Harry watched, he saw how often the brunette girl nodded and figured that Ginny was still helping the girl get used to the school. When finally Harry looked around, he saw that Li's eyes had been following the two as well.  
"Just our luck getting Snape on the first day of term. I don't feel like seeing him today," Ron sighed as he gathered his things together.  
"I don't ever feel like seeing Snape," Harry replied. "You'd think he'd actually be more of a human being after everything that's happened."  
"Really, Harry, Ron, he's on our side. You shouldn't talk about him as if he were some Death Eater," Hermione began before suddenly remembering Li's presence. "Anyway, we should get to class. You can come with us, Li until you get to know the grounds better."  
Li nodded and joined the rest of them silently. Something about the boy made Harry extremely uncomfortable. He didn't quite know what it was, but there was definitely a change in the way he acted from time to time. Letting the others go first, Harry watched Li from behind, careful to watch his every move. He didn't know what it was, but something about Li was different and at that point he didn't know if that was good or bad.  
Harry was shaken from his thoughts at last when they reached Professor Binn's room. When the door opened and Li saw who the teacher was he turned to look at the others. "Is he the regular teacher?"  
"Yes, funny story that. He taught this subject for years and every morning got up for class ready to teach. Oddly enough, one day he left his body behind and really didn't seem to notice the difference of all." Hermione looked at the teacher as he floated a little above the floor, preparing for yet another undoubtedly boring class.  
Li chuckled, drawing everyone's attention. "She's going to love that."  
"Who?" Ron asked.  
"Sakura. She's absolutely terrified of ghosts. I can just imagine her having to have a class taught by one."  
Harry frowned, wondering at Li's callous behavior. The girl was his friend and he was laughing at what she was afraid of? It was kind of cruel, especially in a situation where the she would have to put up with it for an hour and a half at a time a couple of times a week. However, Harry didn't comment on the other boy's behavior and merely took his seat, settling back in his chair ready for a nice long nap.  
  
As Sakura went with Ginny to Hagrid's hut for Care of Magical Creatures, Harry and company made their way to the dungeons for Potions. "I'm warning you, Li, Snape is not a man to be trifled with. He hates Gryffindor and he hates anyone who associates with Harry. Of course you are probably already doomed since you got promoted like you did. He hates people who think they are special. Good death to you, mate," Ron grinned at Li before opening the door into the Potions room.  
Class started moments later when the greasy haired Professor Snape entered the room noisily. He looked over the class, finally centering his attention on where Li was sitting beside Harry. "Ah, I see that our newest celebrity keeps in ties with our old one. Perhaps the two of you wish to share all the fame between yourselves."  
Harry glared at Snape, feeling the familiar dislike bubble up again every time he looked at the man. But for once, Snape wasn't staring at him, but instead at the boy seated to the right of him. It was kind of a relief to have someone else getting abused, even if Harry had no real reason to hate the guy.  
"Now, since Dumbledore thought that you were special enough to be promoted all the way to Fifth Year your first time at a wizarding school, perhaps I should ascertain your knowledge." The Gryffindors began to look at Li sympathetically, remembering the way he had grilled Harry on the first day. "Now, what is the most common use of Jobberknoll feathers?"  
"They are usually used for Memory potions, due to the very nature of the bird that they come from. However, they can also be used for truth serums, including Veritaserum," Li recited calmly without hesitating for an instant.  
Harry couldn't help but stare at him wide eyed for a moment before turning to see the look on Snape's face, which was undeniably classic. He wished he had a camera on him, the muggle sort so that he could never hide the look he had now. At last, however, the look changed and Snape frowned, glaring at the Chinese boy fiercely.  
"Very well," he muttered walking to the head of the class. "Today you will be making the Draught of Peace. The instructions are here," he stated pointing his wand at the black board, "the supplies are in the cupboard," he continued waving his wand so that it opened. "Begin."  
The class began to make the potion in relative quiet. The thrill of seeing Snape being told off wore away after a few minutes and was replaced by a sense of bitterness. Snape obviously didn't like Li but he did respect him. Harry wondered darkly if he would have commanded the same respect if he had answered the questions that first day. His wonderings overwhelmed him and he started slightly when he heard Li whispering to him.  
"Re-read step three, Potter."  
Confused, Harry reread the instructions and noticed that he hadn't finished reading the third line and was about to make a serious mistake. Glancing over at Li, who seemed to be fully concentrated on his own potion, Harry frowned. For some reason, instead of gratitude that Li had helped him, Harry felt as if the other boy was showing off by correcting his mistakes. After a moment though the bitter feeling passed and he sighed internally. He was being ridiculous; Li had helped him instead of watching him fail. He made a mental note to thank him after class was finished.  
"Now, if you have done everything correctly, your potion should be emitting a silvery smoke about now," Snape instructed, glancing around the room. Harry followed his look and noticed that his own cauldron had silver smoke above it as well as Hermione's and Li's. Ron's wasn't quite there but looked a lot better than Neville's which was hissing and looked greenish- orange.  
"Mark your sample and bring it to the front of the class. For homework I expect a foot long essay on the moonstone and its uses in potions. Class is finished."  
Harry was glad that he had successfully made a potion that looked as good as Hermione's. When he turned it in, he smirked at Snape before going back to clean up his area. Snape glared at him but looked away when he saw Li coming to turn in his sample. Harry watched with interest at the look of extreme dislike, but also almost nervousness that shone from Snape's eyes as he looked at the boy.  
"I know what you are, Li, but don't think for an instant that will get you anywhere with me or in my class. You are still a student so don't take a leaf from Potter's book and act like you own the place."  
"I wouldn't dream of it professor," Li answered calmly as he turned to clean his area. Harry watched in silence as he erased the contents of his cauldron, nodded at Harry and left the dungeons without speaking further. After a moment, Harry quickly followed, running to catch up with Hermione and Ron. They had things to talk about.  
  
"Oh, no, actually Meilin, Tomoyo, Syaoran and I are going to go sit outside with our lunch. No one told us that we couldn't and I want talk about their day and what to expect and everything. I'll see you at dinner!" Sakura laughed as she left Ginny at the doors to the Grand hall. Quickly she walked down the corridor and exited the door into the Courtyard. When she looked around she realized she was the first one there and sat down on one of the low walls surrounding the grassy area.  
Tomoyo and Meilin came only a few minutes later, followed by Syaoran who looked annoyed. There were a few other students milling around the area so they walked further into the courtyard where they were sure they wouldn't be overheard easily. For a few minutes they just chatted amiably about their different classes until they saw that most people had left. Then they got down to business.  
"Alright, Tomoyo, Meilin, here is everything from start to finish," Sakura started and proceeded to tell them about what Dumbledore had told them, some of which they had overheard in the halls, and about the Dream they had last night. It was a long conversation that lasted most of the way through lunch and when Sakura finally finished the four couldn't help but sit in silence, wondering about what exactly would be happening this year. And if they could handle it as they had in the past.  
  
In the hall, the four Gryffindors were discussing the interesting things they had noticed about their new friends. Harry told them what he had overheard in the dungeon. "I wonder what he meant by 'what you are,'" Ron said through a roll. "I mean wouldn't you normally say 'who'?"  
"It does imply that Li isn't a wizard, or at least not a normal one," Hermione mused.  
Ginny nodded. "I don't think that Sakura is a witch either. I like her and all but last night something weird happened. I think I am the only one that noticed because none of the other girls mentioned anything but," she took a breath, "it was really weird."  
"Explain already, Ginny," Ron rolled his eyes.  
"I was getting to it! Anyway, it was pretty late but I couldn't sleep and was just lying there thinking about my schedule, you know? Then I heard Sakura moving around and moving her curtains. I had thought that she had gone to sleep a long time ago so I looked out of my bed curtains to see if she was alright. At first I didn't see anything but after a second I saw this bright light shine from between the bed hangings and I heard her saying some stuff in Japanese. The only thing I could make out was 'Syaoran' and at the end she said 'Dream' in English. After that the light got even brighter then died away completely. I waited for a few minutes until I realized that she was asleep."  
The three others thought about what Ginny said before Hermione spoke. "So far this is what we know," she started, writing down points on a piece of parchment. "First, they all know each other really well despite not having seen each other for two years, implying that something major happened when they were together."  
"Why's that?" Ron asked only to receive exasperated looks from the rest of them.  
"Second, we've witnessed Sakura doing magic without wand or using incantation and Ginny saw what she did which implies that Sakura is a powerful witch at the very least.  
"Third, we heard Snape call Li a what which implies that he is different from everyone else, probably Sakura as well."  
"Oh and don't forget to add that they are good friend with the new DADA teacher," Harry reminded.  
"Oh yeah, how do you say his name again?"  
"He-rah-ghee-zah-wah," Ginny answered her brother without thinking.  
"So all together we know some but not a lot. Just enough clues to drive me insane," Hermione sighed, getting that look in her eye.  
"Let me guess, to the library?" Ron asked with a wince in his tone.  
"First thing after dinner."  
  
"I need to start heading to Divination. It's really far away," Sakura sighed, gathering her books again. "Why do I have to go to Divination anyway? I thought I already learned out to tell the future."  
"I heard the professor is a real fruitcake," Meilin commented. "Maybe they want you to show her up."  
Tomoyo laughed. "That wouldn't be hard for Sakura-chan!"  
Everyone sighed in exasperation as they began to walk their separate directions. "I need to find Granger so I can get to my class. I'll see you tonight okay, Sakura?"  
She smiled up at Syaoran. "I'm sure I can manage until then," leaning up she kissed him on the cheek before scampering off towards the North Tower, leaving Syaoran standing there with a look of shock plastered onto his face. When Hermione found him a few minutes later she smiled at the almost goofy smile on his face.  
"Li, you look like something really good just happened."  
Syaoran snapped out of it and dropped his smile. "Perhaps. Shall we go?"  
  
Harry hated Divination and wondered not for the first time why he kept with the class. The idiotic woman was constantly predicting his death. In fact it was almost a weekly ritual now. Climbing the long rope latter he and Ron wondered what sort of death she would predict this year. Ron suggested that perhaps this year he was going to suffocate from her incense, causing them both to chuckle as they took their seats closest to the window as they could get. Harry was resigning himself to another intolerable year of Divination when someone completely unexpected entered the trap door.  
"Harry? Ron? I think I'm in the wrong place," she said with a troubled voice as she looked down at her schedule. "But it says Divination right after lunch."  
"No, my child, you are correct to be here," Professor Trelawney's airy voice said coming from the back of the room. Sakura was startled and turn to face the odd looking woman. "I predicted that a girl with a wonderful eye would be coming to Hogwarts and pleaded with Dumbledore to have her placed in my advanced class. Especially when someone of such misfortune shares the class," she sighed, motioning to Harry.  
Sakura sighed and nodded before heading to where Ron and Harry were sitting, to the delight of both. Harry instantly began to think of Divination as his favourite class. "Do you have this class Wednesday morning too?" he asked her anxiously. For a moment she looked at her schedule then nodded. Things were looking up, Harry thought with a grin towards Ron who was obviously thinking along the same lines.  
"Is she always so...uh," Sakura faltered trying to find the correct word, mastery of the English language failing her.  
"Mad as a hatter? Yes," Ron said.  
"She can predict correctly according to Dumbledore but it doesn't happen very often," Harry noted dryly. The three sighed and looked to their professor who was beginning to speak.  
"I had originally thought to start class picking up on astrology once again but a spirit told me that I was better with starting with the Tarot cards. You will all find a set on the tables before you. Take turns reading each other's fortunes and I will come by correcting them each in turn.  
The three looked at each other for a moment, wondering how they were going to work out three instead of two, when Harry suggested, "Why don't we go clockwise, reading for the person on our left? Or something."  
"That works for me," Ron agreed peaceably. "You go first, Harry."  
Looking in the book he instructed Ron to carefully shuffle the Cards, making sure the touched all of them before Harry set them in the formation shown. "Um, this says that someone is coming for you and um, that you lied about something. Though, someone is in love with you and you are going to have lots of babies together."  
Ron rolled his eyes. "You aren't even trying Harry. Hand Sakura the cards so she can fondle them." Sakura laughed and carefully shuffled them before handing them to Ron. Following the instructions he laid out the pattern like Harry had. Though, he looked at the various meanings his reading wasn't much better, or so he thought. "Apparently some chap is madly in love with you, don't blame him personally. Um, but something came between you and now you are having to start fresh. Uh, I don't get the rest of this. It's all just stuff about a powerful lady and some guy who doesn't stay the same or something."  
He shrugged and motioned to hand the cards to Sakura who held up a hand. "No thanks I have my own actually." Both boys watched intently as she reached up her skirt. Glancing at each other they wondered at the free show they were getting before they saw her extract a deck of cards. "Oh, so she wasn't lying when she said that you had that damned third eye she's always talking about."  
"Not precisely no. I have been fortune telling since I was ten." Suddenly she stopped and chewed on her lips. Sakura was suddenly afraid of her rash decision to use the Cards. After all it would call attention to her and her powers if she proceeded normally since there was usually a lot of flashing lights involved. With a shrug she began to speak to the Cards through her mind and begged them to seem as normal Cards.  
Harry watched as the beautiful girl closed her eyes in concentration before shuffling the pink cards in her hand. Without opening her eyes or taking away from her concentration she laid out the cards in a diamond shape: one, two, three, two, one. Harry got a chance to inspect the weird design on the back of the card for a moment before she opened her eyes and flipped over the first card.  
"The Fight, obviously this is about Voldemort, Harry," she said plainly, causing Ron to wince. "The next two Cards show his weapons against you for the moment." She carefully flipped over the next two cards as Harry fidgeted. Tarot cards were one thing, but something about this girl reading about Voldemort set him ill at ease. "The Dream and The Return. He holds your dreams and the past against you. He probably knows something you do not."  
Harry nodded, staring at her hands as she explained the next line. "These three are about what he is in relation to you and..." she broke off biting her lip. Harry looked over to see three cards labeled, "The Mirror," "The Twin," and "The Dark." They seemed harmless enough to him but by the look on the witch's face she looked severely disturbed, her eyes trained specifically on "The Dark".  
"What?" Ron said.  
"Oh, nothing, just a little weird. These say that he is the darkness and that your destinies are linked," she lied quickly, storing away the true knowledge for later use. "Anyway, the last two are your weapons against him are, oh how nice," she smiled as she turned over "The Windy" and "The Firey." "Your power lies not only in your passion to fight but also what you can gain from those around you. All in all I think I can see you winning." She smiled at him softly, making him feel a little queasy inside.  
"What is the last card, Sakura?" Ron asked, gesturing to the only one left unturned.  
"Oh, it is the Card that signifies Harry, The Light Card," she said without even bothering to flip it over.  
"How'd you know that if you didn't see it?" he asked before he was interrupted by a sharp intake of breath from behind him.  
"My dear child, only in dreams did I ever think to see this!" Trelawney gasped. Harry noticed that the woman was looking at Sakura and her Cards as if she were some sort of god. Sakura laughed nervously before gathering the cards into one pile and hiding them in her pocket once more. "Oh, you must promise my dear girl to tell me what you saw! Or perhaps let me try one day myself?"  
At that point Harry noticed that Sakura was looking very uncomfortable. "I'm sorry professor but I don't allow anyone to use my Cards really. I think you can respect that as a fellow Seer," she added pleadingly causing the older lady to smile in pleasure.  
"I'm sure that is fine. Anyway, class is dismissed. Everyone needs to hurry to their own classes."  
Harry and Ron watched as the younger girl sprang into action and quickly grabbed her bag before sprinting for the trap door. When she disappeared from sight they exchanged a significant look. "Why do I get the impression, Harry, that there is something more to that little tarot deck that Sakura's not telling us?"  
"Probably because you are right," he sighed. "We need to make sure to tell Hermione about that. Come on, Ron, we've got the magnificent new DADA teacher to have class with."  
  
They met Hermione outside the classroom door as she stared in at the professor. Li was standing just barely inside the class, glowering at the blue haired man and muttering something under his breath in Mandarin. Harry looked over to notice that the professor was watching all of them as they stood in the doorway. With a sigh he pushed through to take a seat in the classroom. Ron followed behind him closely with Hermione and a still glowering Li in tow. "Do you think he'll last more than a year this time?"  
"Who knows? The better question is if we'd want him to," Harry muttered as the last of the class filed in and the professor signaled the start of the class.  
"As you already know, fifth years, I am Professor Eriol Hiiragizawa. No, I am not from Asia. I was born right here in England and attended this school myself a few thousand years ago," he exagerated causing his students to giggle. And yes, I am a decent teacher as I hope to prove. Will I be the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher yet? Probably not, but I can assure you I'm better than Lockhart and Quirrell at least." The students chuckled slightly. "Now, before I start class I'll answer any other questions you are dying to ask."  
Dean Thomas raised his hand quickly, "How do you know Kinomoto?"  
The professor smiled complacently and Harry wondered if he would answer like she had the previous day. "I've gotten that question a few times already. The answer is that not only did I help her with her studies but I am also an old friend of the family. This also applies to Miss Daidouji as well."  
"What did you do before you came here?" Lavender Brown asked.  
"Actually, I did a little of everything. Mostly I help both the Ministry and the Wizard Council gather information about the wizarding world around the globe."  
"Who's side are you on, professor, the Ministry's or Dumbledore's?" Seamus Finnigan asked, glancing at Harry.  
The dancing eyes of the professor suddenly grew serious as he stared at the class. Harry felt a little nervous, unsure of what the man would say. He knew that Li believed him when he said that Voldemort was back, but it wasn't certain that everyone Li knew felt the same way.  
"I will answer your question then I will start class. I also want everyone here to realize that no matter who I agree with, I still expect you to do your best in this class. Is that understood?" He waited until each student had nodded in assent. "It is my understanding that as of the Twenty-fourth of June He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has returned to this world. I am sure there are many who disagree with me, but as far as I can tell, it is truth.  
"Now, this year in class you will be learning counter-curses and how to defend yourself in the incident you are attacked by dark magic. I will do my best to help everyone prepare for their O.W.L.s at the end of the year so I expect everyone present to do their best for me."  
He continued talking about the concentration needed to perform counter-curses and why they are used. The lecture lasted for the whole of the class period but was not boring. Professor Hiiragizawa frequently stopped to answer questions and would often pick on a student to name a situation where they might encounter dark magic, outside of Voldemort or Death Eaters.  
Harry was thoughtful when he left the classroom. It was a relief to know that he had the new DADA teacher on his side at least and that he was a competent man who didn't have a superiority complex. However, he did find it rather odd when, while leaving the class, he overheard the professor say, "My cute descendant," to Li before getting, "You're creepy, Hiiragizawa," thrown back at him.  
  
After dinner had passed and students were encouraged to go to their dorms before curfew set in, Sakura made her way to the griffin that guarded Dumbledore's office. She was alone, and nervous, but after taking a deep breath she said, "Bertie Bott's." The griffin once again jumped into life and Sakura stepped forward, allowing the turning stairwell to do the work for her. When she finally found herself outside of the doorway, she hesitated, biting her lip.  
I don't need to do this now, she told herself. I can do this tomorrow or the next day and bring Syaoran or Tomoyo or Meilin or all of them with me. Yes I should do this tomorrow, she thought finally turning to leave.  
"Come in already, Miss Kinomoto. You can be surprisingly indecisive for someone who has done so much," Dumbledore called. The door opened before her and inside she found Professor McGonagall and another professor she didn't recognize with dark hair and a hooked nose. Nervously, she bowed to them in greeting.  
"I'm sorry, I am interrupting something. I just...," she broke off, feeling decidedly uncomfortable under the intense stares of the three adults.  
"It's fine Miss Kinomoto. Severus, you may go if you like, but Minerva I'm sure you would like to stay." The lady nodded, returning to her seat while the other professor looked at her askance, as if deciding whether or not he should leave. At last he decided that he had better things to do than listen to adolescent girls complain about what they thought they knew and left the room.  
"I don't think he likes me," Sakura observed.  
"Perhaps not, Miss Kinomoto. Now I'm sure you had a very good reason to speak with me. I actually had expected another conversation with you but not this soon. You work faster than this old man is used to."  
Sakura blushed and sat in the seat he indicated. "I actually don't need to ask as many questions as I thought I would yesterday. I saw most of the important things last night, as well as Syaoran, but something unusual happened in Divination and I didn't know what to think so I came to you."  
"Yes, Sibyll told me that you did a reading for Mr. Potter. That may have been unwise since you are trying to keep your powers a secret."  
Sakura blushed, knowing he was right. "I know, professor, but the Cards would be mad at me if I relied on another deck. And when they are upset with me they don't respond as well."  
"You speak as if they are alive, Miss Kinomoto," McGonagall observed.  
  
"You could almost say they are, professor. It is hard to explain, but they are not just objects." The professor nodded and indicated that she go on wit her story. "When I did my reading today it automatically picked up on Voldemort. It told me...actually would you like to see what it showed me?" she asked since she herself was a visual person.  
"If you like," Dumbledore agreed, indicating the desk.  
Sakura nodded and held out her hand expectantly and obediently nine Cards flew into her hand. She held them out to the desk and they got in the order they had been without her having to do anything more. The sourceress made all of her actions with a practiced casualness, showing that she had done this many times before.  
Sakura began to go through the reading again, repeating almost verbatim what she had told Harry a couple hours before. She pointedly skipped over the row of three cards and continued until she came to the Light Card. "This Card matched with these three is what troubled me. These three tell what Voldemort is in respect to Harry. The Light and Dark prove that they are opposites but the Mirror and the Twin say that they are equal opposites. I told Harry that it meant that their destinies were linked, which he must already know, but this is more than that. It shows that their fate is balanced upon one thing and there is an equal chance of either coming true."  
She stopped and looked at the Cards in confusion for a moment before gathering them to herself again and slipping them in her pocket. "I came here to ask if I am not reading right or if there is something you haven't told Harry yet."  
Dumbledore sighed and a weary look grew over his face. "You are reading correctly, perhaps more than makes me comfortable to see. But I must ask you to respect my wishes when I say that I cannot reveal to you what I haven't told him." He drew himself up in his chair, regaining some of his vigor. "I'm sure you realize that you were placed in the fifth year Divination class to watch after Mr. Potter. I would have placed your friend Li with him, but I must allow him to lead his own life as well so we gave him the electives more suited to him.  
"Miss Kinomoto, I am glad that you are already keeping a good watch on him and have already learned what you could about his situation. But perhaps there is something you can do for him now that others can't."  
"What is that, professor?"  
"Be his friend. Everyone else is tainted with bad memories and Harry is growing bitter and angry. Right now he needs a friend who can prove that he is not the only one out there and that there are others who have to suffer. But also that they can get by. Can you do that for me, Miss Kinomoto?"  
Sakura stared at the aged man for a moment before smiling and nodding. "I'd love to be his friend." She stood up and excused herself before the time came when she would be in trouble for being out after hours.  
The two professors watched her as she left and kept their eyes trained on where she had disappeared for sometime. Finally, Professor McGonagall broke the silence. Awe and respect filled her voice when she said, "She is so young, but I wouldn't hesitate to say she has more magic in one hand than most wizards have in their whole being. I think I'm one of them," she smiled, looking at Dumbledore as she continued.  
"She is a very amazing girl. The level of control she has on her magic is almost unheard of at all, much less at her age. And she does everything so easily. She doesn't even realize how amazing she is nor does she think she has a hard time of it herself."  
"No, Minerva, she doesn't and perhaps that is her greatest strength. She doesn't look down on anyone because to her there is nothing to look down on, no difference between herself and others. And she has survived everything and can still smile genuinely at the end."  
"Don't you think that perhaps we were a bit cruel to bring her into a world so full of death?"  
"Perhaps. But also I think one aspect of her reading was wrong. Harry might be the light to Voldemort's dark, but Sakura is pure light for the world. I think she may be able to help heal our wounds when this is all finished."  
McGonagall nodded in agreement.  
  
When Sakura returned to the common room, she heard Fred and George Weasley in serious argument with Hermione. She didn't quite understand what they were talking about and by the time she got close enough the argument was nearly over.  
"No," Hermione said with anger embedded in her voice, "But I will write to your mother."  
"You wouldn't," both breathed at once.  
"I certainly would. I can't make you stop testing those horrible things on yourself but I can stop you from giving them to the First Years."  
The twins stared at each other in horror before the new prefect walked away, obviously shaking in rage. Sakura looked at the twins in curiosity. "What was that about?" she asked in general.  
"The prefect doesn't want us to test out our new products. Says they'll hurt people," Fried answered.  
"What's the product?"  
"We are starting a new line of candies that when you eat them feign illness until you can take the antidote. That way you can get out of class whenever you need to." George grinned.  
Sakura stared at them. She usually liked class so she didn't understand why someone would work so hard to get out of it. But, shrugging mentally, she thought to each their own. "I need to get to my homework now. Ja!" She smiled to them and walked over to where Hermione had gone to sit with her friends. She was glowering at Ron as she pulled out a bag filled with what looked like cloth disks or something of the like to the Asian girl.  
"What are those things you are making, Hermione?" Sakura asked politely as she sat down next to Syaoran.  
"They are hats for the house elves. You see when a house elf receives clothing they are free. I am trying to free them from their slavery." When the girl still looked confused, Hermione continued on. "You see, house elves are forced to do whatever their master says, whether it be getting food or cleaning or doing things they absolutely hate. And they aren't paid for it at all! It really is horrible to see a race of creatures enslaved like that."  
"But they LIKE it, Hermione! How many times do we have to remind you of that?" Ron said with irritation shaking his voice.  
"What do you mean they like it?" Syaoran asked, speaking for the first time since they had entered the common room after dinner.  
"They like their job! They like what they do!" Harry answered, feeling annoyed to be back on this same topic again.  
Suddenly, Sakura was reminded of Kero and Yue. They did everything for her without qualm or question. They would even die for her if they needed to. Even more, the only thing they did object to was the repeated times she had told them to do as they liked, always arguing that they wanted to be with her, to guard and protect her.  
"Ano, if they like it, it isn't slavery is it?"  
"What?" everyone asked turning to her with obvious shock. "I figured you'd be on her side," Ron said amazedly.  
"I am in a way, but not if they like what they do. You might say that I have two...beings that are bound to me like the house elves are to their masters. I have often told them to do what they would, to be free with their own time and wishes, but they ignore me." As she spoke, she reached up to clutch the pendant, in essence holding her two Guardians in her hand. "They wish to stay with me and I respect their wishes."  
"Heh, you just mean you'd miss them if they left," Syaoran observed.  
Sakura turned and wrinkled her nose at him with a grin. "Very much!"  
"See," Ron exclaimed, pointing to Sakura. "She's not a horrible person but she has something like house elves! They are happy here!" He frowned as he watched his fellow prefect cover the hats with rubbish. "Are you trying to trick them into freedom?" he cried angrily.  
"Yes! They are too brainwashed to know any better! And I'm sure Sakura allows her...servants freedom! They are not the same!" With a snort of indignation she gathered her belongings and headed up the stairs to the girls dormitory. Everyone watched her go and Sakura felt a little guilty.  
Ron groaned. "There is no point in trying to finish homework now," he gesturing to his potions essay. "I have no clue what to do with moonstone. Do you Harry?"  
Harry shook his head tiredly. He reached up to massage his right temple for a moment. When he stopped he looked over his homework with a dejected face. "I really don't feel like doing all this now. First day of term and I'm already behind."  
"Is your head hurting, Harry?" Sakura asked with concern in her voice.  
  
Harry turned to look at the pretty girl with the kind eyes and smiled a little. "Nothing out of the ordinary really. Thanks for asking though." Harry felt his heart nearly stop when she grinned at him in relief. "Where did you go after dinner by the way?"  
She seemed a little flustered, causing Harry to wonder a little. "I had to go speak to the Headmaster about something. See I was wondering why they put me in fifth year divination, since I don't really trust Professor Trelawney's explanation. He didn't tell me much but he did say that it wasn't a mistake of the schedule."  
"Just make sure you do your homework or else you will get in trouble," Harry warned her, not wanting to see the cheerful girl upset.  
"Oh, she'll get it done," Li observed without looking up from his essay. "She's just a procrastinator and likes to leave everything to the last minute."  
"Syaoran!" she yelled back, holding up one fist angrily. "Just because you do your homework the instant you get it doesn't mean everyone else has to! I mean during lunch the rest of us were all talking and you were doing the potions essay."  
Ron and Harry glanced at each other before looking at Li hopefully. "Er, mate, would you mind helping us out a bit then, since you are already finished?" Ron pleaded.  
Li finally looked up, giving Harry the distinct impression that he was going to say no or tell them to eff off. But instead he shrugged. Leaning forward he started going through a series of scrolls before he finally pulling one out and tossing it to the two boys on the couch. Harry leaned over to read as Ron opened it up. He quickly realized that it wasn't the essay but almost three feet of notes on moonstone, a lot of which dealt with its uses in potions.  
"Who did you nick this off of?" Harry asked in awe at the detail the notes went into. It wasn't as nice as being able to copy from Hermione but it would cut down on the effort by half.  
Sakura giggled, distracting the boys at the entrancing sound for a moment before they looked back at the scroll. "Syaoran didn't steal that, he wrote it."  
"Why'd you take the time to do something like that, Li?" Ron asked, obviously awed.  
Li shrugged as he went back to working on his DA homework. "Taking notes was beat into me. Though, I probably would have picked it up sooner or later from the level of grades mother demands."  
Harry stared at the Chinese boy as he worked diligently on his homework. There was still a sense of dislike and eeriness that came to him when he looked at Li, but he was beginning to understand him a little more. Sure his own life hadn't been a picnic but it was beginning to sound as if this boy's wasn't either. "Thanks, Li," he said finally as he began to work on the essay instead of putting it off.  
  
Sakura looked around at the three boys around her who were all studiously working. Despite Syaoran's jabs she had already finished her Care of Magical Creatures homework and since she had so impressed Professor Trelawney, the Divination teacher didn't assign any to them. She felt a little awkward since everyone else was busy and she had nothing to do herself. So instead she stood and wished everyone a goodnight.  
"Oyasumi nasai, Sakura," Syaoran said, looking up at her with smiling eyes before returning to his work.  
"Er, night?" Ron said looking a little confused.  
Harry rolled his eyes, "Goodnight Sakura. See you tomorrow at breakfast."  
Sakura nodded and went up the long stretch of stairs before changing into her night clothes tiredly. She had a feeling that the next days would be tiring, almost as much as it had been four years ago when she first got the Clow Cards. Learning new magic was always like that. With a sigh she slipped into her bed and was quickly asleep.  
  
(A/N: REVIEW! The next chapter should be up pretty soon! So please be very kind and review and tell me what you think. Constructive criticism or just words of hey I like that really do help me write. Anyway, Ja!) 


	5. Keeper Tryouts

An update! Took me longer than expected, but that's because I was separated from my computer for a few days. I hope it wasn't too long a wait. In this chapter you get to see them use more magic and sorts. There will be more inter-character development so enjoy!  
  
Reviews: Hikari Mizu: That's kinda freaky. Though I suppose there are worse things. Tell me if that happens again! Maybe you'll help with writers block tee hee. Umm, Kero WILL show up, I just don't know how much of him there will be. I am a Kero fan as well, but I don't think I write him very well and would prefer to neglect him than take away from his goodness. Also it will not be until later on. YAY for liking the Card reading. I put a lot of work into it. I thought I should also note, if I didn't already, that all meanings of the Cards in a fortune telling manner are guessed or reasoned out if not already stated in Manga/Anime. I'm glad people like the Syaoran/Harry interaction as it will be a main theme through the story. Lastly, questions I was hoping people would ask (Thank you Anais!) The Dream Card: while in the series Dream Card was used exclusively to see what would happen in the future, they never say that it can't be used to state the past. It was just described as giving true dreams. I figured you could dream the past as well as the future. The thestrals: While I wanted her to see them because it would create an immediate bond between her and Harry, there is reasoning behind her being able to see thestrals. First, while they always come back, Sakura has more than once seen the disappearance of her loved ones and those around her ie. Erase, Void etc. Also, in the manga series she actually watches the death of Clow Reed in a dream that Eriol gives her. That is why she can witness them. And it was never said whether or not she saw her mother die but it is assumed she did not.  
  
Anyway, continue asking questions. There are some parts I write just to see if someone will notice ( I did that a lot in Daughter of the Stars etc.) and when I see that someone notices and asks it makes me all happy. Also when people ask me questions it helps me write better.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or CCS. Well actually I DO own all the Harry Potter books and movies and all the CCS Manga/Movies/Show....but I don't think that's what they mean.  
  
Keeper Tryouts  
  
As the Gryffindors were let out of Charms, Harry couldn't help but sigh in aggravation. Professor Flitwick had assigned more homework than ever before after spending an hour reviewing summoning charms and giving a long lecture about the importance of doing well on one's O.W.Ls. Really Harry should have been expecting it from the way the day had started, rain pouring over the castle with dark clouds blackening out the sky. The world felt dreary and Hogwarts' professors were striving to match up.  
As he sat in Transfiguration, listening to Professor McGonagall give much the same lecture he wondered how he was ever going to get all the homework done. Perhaps he should buddy up with Li since Hermione still wasn't speaking to Ron and had put a stop in general on letting them copy her work. As his thoughts meandered to the boy sitting in front of him he realized something that he hadn't before. They had been reviewing summoning spells so it wasn't odd that most people got it on the first try. But Li wasn't here last year. How come he managed it so easily too?  
With a mental shrug Harry figured that Li and the others must have gotten a list of things they needed to review before coming to Hogwarts so they could be promoted as they had been. With a sigh, he finally returned his attention to the professor who was discussing their current assignment. She told them that Vanishing spells would be among one of the most difficult spells on their O.W.L. before explaining the technique and letting the class start.  
Harry had to agree with her on the difficulty when on his third attempt he still got nothing aside of a slight headache. Looking around he realized that most people weren't doing much better except Hermione who managed on her third try to completely vanish her snail. Next to her, though, Li was sitting without moving, staring at his snail for a minute.  
"10 points to Gryffindor, Miss Granger for your efforts. Mr. Li is there some reason why you are staring at your snail instead of doing what I instructed you. You will never get it right if you don't at least try." She sat there and watched him expectantly, finally forcing the Chinese boy into action.  
Li picked up his wand and pointed at the snail. After taking a deep breath he gave his first attempt and successfully made the snail disappear completely. Everyone in the room had been watching and gasped when they saw him complete the difficult spell in only one try.  
"Very impressive, Mr. Li. Fifteen points to Gryffindor. It would have been twenty but you decided to wander into your own world before doing what you were told."  
Li nodded, without saying anything. Harry couldn't help but be amazed and more than a little envious. Sure, Hermione doing something quickly was expected, she was the head of the class and probably more than one class at that. But Li was an unknown. Harry watched the boy for the rest of the class, giving up hope on trying to vanish his snail from his growing headache. And Li just sat there, looking into the Transfiguration book and taking notes on different things, occasionally replying to Hermione's questions in an undertone.  
When class was dismissed he fled, obviously not wanting further attention from the class. Hermione, Ron and Harry looked at each other as they packed up their belongings and unanimously heading towards the library instead of the Great Hall. "I'm quite sure he is going to take my place as number one in the class. I don't think I mind so much since he is so capable," Hermione said, speaking to Ron for the first time all day.  
"There is something not quite right about him getting everything so easily though," Harry muttered. In his own way he was more irritated by the obvious comparisons that kept being made between the two. Harry was once the brilliant one that everyone admired then he became the insane fame seeker. And to replace him, came this good looking prince of Asia who beat out everyone quickly and was good friends with three beautiful girls.  
"I know what you mean. But I think I know where we can start looking for information. I'm sure there I something in the library that will answer some questions. Why don't we just start at what we know so far?"  
Harry and Ron nodded, putting their bags down on a table before the three of them set out looking for books with helpful information. Ron found a book named, "Famous Wizards throughout Asia since 400bc" and began looking through that while Harry leafed through a book about magical playing cards. Hermione spent most of her time wandering through the shelves, hopeful to stumble across something that sparked her more than adequate woman's intuition. Nothing came though through the lunch hour and they left for Care of Magical Creatures as clueless as they had entered.  
  
As Harry and his companions made their way to Herbology they passed the fourth years leaving. Ginny waved and said "hi" brightly before passing them up. She was quickly followed by Sakura and Tomoyo, deep in conversation in their native language, before they realized the others were there and stopped to say hi. Before either party could exchange words though, Luna Lovegood marched up to Harry and took a deep breath.  
"I believe He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back, and I believe you fought him and escaped from him," she quickly said without even bothering to lead up to it. Harry desperately tried to come of with some response as he heard Lavender and Parvati begin to giggle. Again, before he could speak though he was interrupted.  
"Oh, so do we," Tomoyo said with Sakura nodding in agreement as she looked back and forth between Luna and Harry. Harry looked at the raven haired girl with genuine gratitude. While he was grateful for anyone's support, especially so openly said, Luna wasn't exactly taken seriously in this school, especially judging from the way she dressed.  
But when Tomoyo had made her simple statement his fellow fifth years had stop giggling and looked at the three girls seriously. Tomoyo's obvious intelligence and Sakura's innocence both caught attention and gave believability to the situation. "Thanks, all of you," Harry finally stuttered. "I'm glad someone believes me."  
"They aren't the only ones," someone said stepping from the back of the crowd. Harry turned to see Ernie Macmillan. "I want you to know that I don't think you are crazy and that my family has always stood behind Dumbledore." His voice was loud enough that everyone could here and Harry felt a little surprised but pleased.  
"You should get to class, everyone," Sakura finally said, breaking the silence that followed this statement. Waving goodbye, she and Tomoyo started down the path until they fell even with Syaoran where Sakura paused long enough to glare at him. "And I'm still mad at you, Li Syaoran!" With a sniff she turned away and marched from the group with her best friend giggling madly at her side.  
"What did you do to her?" Dean Thomas asked the blushing boy.  
"I didn't warn her that Professor Binns was a ghost," he muttered in reply, realizing that he was going to have to apologize again. "She's terrified of them. Nearly didn't enter the class room at all until Weasley's sister dragged her."  
Dean pat him on the back with a grin. "I suggest that if you are going to keep secrets like that, at least be there to take pictures of it when it happens."  
Li turned and smirked at the other boy before nodding. "I think I heard her screams from Charms," he laughed before going into the greenhouse. Harry wondered again just what kind of relationship the two had. Li obviously didn't really mind teasing her or insulting her, something common to friendships. But he did mind when she was mad at him, even in a small way. However, those thoughts were wiped away when Professor Sprout started the class on a familiar theme: O.W.L.s.  
  
"Look, I'm sorry Sakura. But hey, maybe this way you'll be able to get over your fear of ghosts. There are so many here I'm surprised Professor Binns is the first one you've run into."  
"Oh, that's because the only ghosts she'd really run into are the ones who have learned to tell which students would be afraid of them. They are usually nice enough to avoid them," Hermione said, glancing up from her Herbology essay.  
"Still, you could have warned me, Syaoran," Sakura sighed, finally giving in. "But fine, I forgive you. But only if you help me with my Potions homework."  
"Done, you slacker." They both set to work, Sakura writing most of it while Syaoran pointed out things here and there. It was almost finished when everyone was startled from their work by a loud voice.  
"Oy, Potter," Angelina Johnson yelled as she approached the busy group. "Keeper tryouts are on Friday. I want you to be there so we can see how the group works together. Understood?"  
Harry nodded curtly. "As long as you don't go as insane as Wood I'm fine, Angelina."  
The older girl grinned, "I think I'm beginning to understand what made him so loopy. Just be there."  
They all watched her leave before returning to their assignments. About five minutes passed before Sakura finally looked up and asked, "What's a keeper?"  
Harry and Ron looked up at her in amazement while Hermione groaned and sunk lower into her seat. "You mean you don't know about qudditch?" Ron gasped.  
Sakura exchanged looks with Syaoran before shaking her head. "No, we came from muggle schools remember?"  
"Qudditch is the best of all things," Ron started. They spent the next thirty minutes explaining the various aspects of the games to the two transfer students. Often they would go off on side tangents about he different games they had played and Ron would quip about how awesome Harry was. Harry kept rolling his eyes but was obviously pleased with the praise. Sakura accurately guessed that it was most likely his favourite aspect of Hogwarts.  
"It's too bad you don't fly yet," Harry sighed. "I'm sure both of you would enjoy the game."  
Sakura blinked. "I fly all the time," she said before quickly stopping and biting her lip.  
"Really? That's great," Ron smiled. "Why don't you try out then? I'm sure that if you waited to try out until last you could catch on to what it takes to be keeper pretty quickly. What do you say?"  
Syaoran shrugged. "She's the flyer around here. I'm just usually on for the ride." He smiled as he remembered watching her soar through the sky, even before she grew wings to do so.  
"I'm probably not good enough to do it," Sakura said with a blush. "I usually only fly when I have to."  
Syaoran rolled his eyes. "Don't listen to her, Potter, Weasley. She's a natural. She'll try out."  
Harry grinned at her encouragingly. Sakura smiled back, determination to make the team building. If she and Harry were together during practice and games it would be a good way to become better friends. And she saw that he really did need friends that didn't remind him of what he had experienced before.  
"Now that you are done with that, why don't you get back to work on your homework, Ron, Harry, before you find yourself in deep trouble. And I'm not going to let you copy from me this time so don't even ask."  
Ron flashed a grin as Harry held up another one of Li's scrolls. "No, thanks Hermione. We got ourselves someone else to help us who is less stingy."  
Hermione frowned and looked at the scroll then at the two boys who were grinning at her with mischief. "Who?" Instantly they both pointed to Syaoran who shrugged his shoulders. "Why are you encouraging them, Li? They will never learn anything if they don't do work on their own."  
"Hey, leave Li alone," Ron objected. "He just gave us his notes. It reads easier than these stupid books." Turning to Syaoran he grinned. "You should go into writing text books, mate. You'd make millions."  
Sakura giggled. "I can just see that. I'm sure the Elders would love it."  
Syaoran sighed. "I'd be dead before I could get past, 'I'm going to.'" He pulled out another scroll and began to write a letter, signaling the end of the conversation from his part. Sakura sighed, angry at herself for upsetting him. As everyone else continued to do their homework she reluctantly pulled out her History of Magic homework and settled in to write.  
  
"Now, watch out for Professor Snape, Sakura," Ginny warned her new friend again. "He really doesn't like Gryffindors and he acts really biased. He won't hesitate to be mean to you or to take away points if you mess up at all."  
Sakura nodded, taking all of this in as they headed towards the dungeons. She wasn't too sure that she completely believed her friend. No one could really be that bad and be a teacher could they? Following her friend she took a seat beside Ginny and glanced around nervously at the Slytherins, who were all staring at her with a sick sort of smile that made her nervous.  
Professor Snape entered the room with a loud noise and looked around until he found Sakura. With quick purpose he strode to her and stopped in front of her desk. The Slytherins began to chuckle in anticipation and the Gryffindors looked at her sympathetically. Sakura on the other hand, looked up at the professor she recognized from Dumbledore's office and smiled at him.  
With a reputation that far proceeded him, Snape was not used to having any of his students look at him with such welcome and ease. To see this slight girl look at him so almost made him frown in confusion but he recovered quickly. "Perhaps, Kinomoto, you feel that you are special since you have been promoted up so far without any effort. Perhaps you feel that you should go through life easily. Is that why you smile at me like that, Kinomoto?"  
The green eyed girl shook her head and continued to smile. "I am nothing special at all, professor. And nothing should be gotten without work. If you don't work for it, if you don't earn it, you shouldn't have it." Really Sakura was just reciting what her teachers had often said to her and what her own life had proved to her since she learned of her magic. However, to the room of anxious students it was awing to see her talk back to Snape in a way that made her seem she agreed with him.  
He narrowed his eyes at her before turning around and heading to the front of the class. "Very well. I shall assume, Miss Kinomoto that you will complete today's assignment without a single mistake. If you do not, I will be sure to take away five points from Gryffindor." With a flick of his wands instructions appeared on the blackboard. "The instructions are here, you may begin."  
"Hoee," Sakura whimpered, looking at Ginny. The red haired girl smiled sympathetically at her new friend with a tint of respect covering her eyes. The class passed quietly and Sakura gave silent thanks to her home-economics teacher. Cooking and potion brewing seem to follow similar lines as to how much skill and patience you had. Near the end of class, Sakura was startled when she heard Snape speak.  
"If you have managed to hold of incompetence for the duration of this class you should be seeing a fine mist rise above your cauldrons now." Sakura sighed in relief when she saw that was exactly what was happening. Grinning she took a sample and labeled it carefully before handing it in to Snape. She smiled at him again before returning to her work space to clean up.  
"Kinomoto, do you always grin so idiotically at everyone?" Snape sighed at her as she began to leave.  
Sakura turned to look back at the tired, cold looking man. "People ask me that a lot, and Syaoran makes fun of me for it too. But yes, I always smile at people. There is no one who has wronged me enough not to deserve a smile. And perhaps if I smile at them they will feel as good as I do when someone smiles at me." With a small bow, she turned to leave the room.  
Snape pondered the girl's words for a few minutes. She was totally innocent and untouched by the world despite everything that she had seen and done. He wondered if she would be able to remain so once she had been dragged fully into the harsh world that the rise of the Dark Lord had brought. As he thought, Snape felt more tired and world weary than he had in a long time and couldn't explain why.  
  
Yawning, Sakura couldn't help but wish she had gotten more sleep the night before. Instead she had waited until Syaoran, returned from Astronomy to ask him to read over her homework. While she was glad he approved, he got to sleep late if he wanted to since his first class was after morning break. Trying to wake up she strained to listen to Professor McGonagall, who was explaining about the spell she wanted them to perform. When the professor was done, Sakura couldn't help but sigh.  
Staring at her hedgehog that she was supposed to be turning into a pincushion, Sakura wished she could be anywhere but where she was. Glancing around, she watched as everyone tried to perform the spell and failed. Ginny, sitting beside her, was the only one who seemed to be making progress. With a faint giggle, Sakura put that down to hanging out with Hermione so much.  
"Miss Kinomoto is there some reason you are gazing off into space?" Professor McGonagall asked sharply, distracting Sakura from her thoughts at last.  
"Um, I just don't think that this spell is right, ma'am."  
"Good heavens, why not?" the professor asked stunned that she was arguing about something that everyone considered almost common place.  
"I was always taught that we shouldn't tamper with the flow of life energy. A hedgehog has more life to it than a pincushion, professor. Wouldn't that be causing it a lot of pain and scare it?"  
McGonagall stared down into the questioning jade eyes and felt a little remorse. "I assure you Miss Kinomoto that when it is reverted back to a hedgehog it remembers no pain, if it ever feels it. Now, will you please try the spell? Your three friends managed to impress me, let's see you do the same."  
Sakura nodded with a smile and quickly, effortlessly, turned the unsuspecting hedgehog into a beautiful pincushion. The rest of the class, who had been paying attention to the quiet conversation gasped. Ginny couldn't help but stare at her new friend in awe. Hermione and Harry had told her yesterday about how easily Li had performed the vanishing spell and now she almost wanted to see if Sakura could do the same.  
"Very good, Miss Kinomoto, I award Gryffindor twenty points."  
Sakura smiled and quickly reversed the spell. The rest of the class she spent playing with the small creature, uncaring of the sharp points which frequently stuck into her hands. When class had ended she gathered her things to head to lunch. As they walked, Ginny asked her, "How do you and your friends do things like that so easily?"  
Sakura grinned. "I'll explain as best as I can when we get to lunch. I'm starved!" Ginny nodded and they sat down at the Gryffindor table. The red haired girl suggested that they wait until the others met with them, since undoubtedly Ron and Harry needed to hear. They both made relatively good marks but only after a great deal of practice. A few minutes passed before the four Fifth Years joined them at the table, muttering about Snape in ways that didn't bear repetition.  
"Sakura promised to tell me how she and the others manage to use magic so well," Ginny told them excitedly.  
"Oh are Meiling and Daidouji having an easy time of it?" Li asked as he began to eat and write at the same time.  
"Professor McGonagall told me that she was impressed by them so I'm assuming as much," Sakura replied before turning to face the others. "Now, as you already guessed probably, I already learned how to control some of my magic before I came. When I was learning everyone, including Syaoran- actually mostly Syaoran, told me the most important thing to do is concentrate. I'm assuming it still applies."  
"See, I told you, Harry, Ron, all you really needed to do was concentrate. However, I must ask how all of you learned to concentrate so well. You are much better at it than I am."  
Sakura shrugged. "I had to learn. But I'm guessing that Syaoran and Meiling learned it from their Martial Arts training. Tomoyo...well Tomoyo is a very single minded kind of person," she said, nervously remembering the many, MANY tapes that Tomoyo had of her in her room.  
Hermione and Ginny nodded, not asking further but Ron began to stare at Syaoran with his jaw hanging. "You know Martial Arts? Those things the Asian wizards do sometimes while they do their spells? Really?" Syaoran glared at Sakura for a moment, causing her to cringe a little, before nodding. "Would you teach me?"  
Syaoran glared at him and said, "No" very firmly before returning to his Potions work. Sakura rolled her eyes and grinned at Ron, causing the red haired boy to blush a little under the full power of her charm. "He's touchy about it. However, he is very good and I decided to learn because of him."  
Syaoran looked up again, staring at Sakura incredulously. "I really can't imagine you being violent without good cause. Actually, I don't even think I can imagine you being violent period. Why on earth did you learn something like that?"  
Sakura blushed, carefully avoiding everyone's gazes which were fixed on her. "There were times when it was necessary to fight back and I thought it would be best that I could do it myself the next time something came up."  
Syaoran instantly comprehended, remembering the Fight Card and the Twin Card. Nodding, he dropped the subject. "You have Hiiragizawa next don't you?"  
She nodded. "You four have already had him, haven't you? Is he a good teacher?" Hermione carefully noted that she sounded more like someone asking about how their friend did rather than if they should be worried. It was true that everyone knew that the two knew each other, but why would she be such good friends with someone so much older?  
"He was pretty good. We only had the one class with him though so perhaps we had him on a better day," Harry commented. Sakura sighed in relief. "He has a sense of humour, which is kind of weird at this school. Usually, the professors are so stiff."  
"He's just like that," she observed as she finished her lunch. "I need to tell him something so I think I'll head to class early. Bye everyone, see you at dinner!" With a small wave she quickly left, worried about something she had seen the night before while waiting for her friends.  
"I'm going to the library," Syaoran added, quickly rising. He didn't feel comfortable with them yet and knew well enough that they probably preferred he wasn't around. With a nod he left and only stopped to talk to Meiling for a moment before disappearing from the room completely.  
  
Harry watched as the two left so quickly. He got the distinct impression that Li didn't like any of them too well but didn't ask anyone if they agreed. Perhaps it was just a mutual thing on his part. "What do you think she needs to tell Professor Hiiragizawa?" he finally asked.  
"I don't know, but I'd love to. She seems oddly close to him considering that she's so much younger than he is."  
"We're all good friend with Hagrid," Ron observed to Hermione.  
"This is different. We're friends with Hagrid from being here at school and, almost, through Harry at first. She knows him from somewhere else."  
"Well, then why don't I head to class early myself," Ginny suggested with a grin. "I'm sure that they can't fault me for being early."  
"Good idea, Ginny," Harry said with a smile at her. She grinned back at him, and not for the first time did he feel glad that she was acting more normal around him. As he watched her go, his thoughts returned to the jade eyed girl who had left a few minutes before. There was just something about her that he couldn't ignore. With a mental shrug he sighed as Ron and Hermione broke into yet another fight.  
  
"I just think that someone is coming. I only saw that she would disrupt things here at Hogwarts but I don't know how. However, I do think that she will target you and your class a lot. That's why I'm warning you now."  
Eriol nodded. "Sometimes I regret asking you for that favour. It certainly helped me prepare for things if it also didn't let me be the happiest of people. Anyway, I'm sure I'll manage. Thank you for the warning."  
Sakura smiled. "I think Ginny is coming so I'll go ahead and sit down."  
"Are you fitting in well with people here, Sakura?" he asked, concernedly.  
"Sometimes I miss Touya and all my friends from school. And I miss the fact that I can't see Tomoyo as often as I used to. But I really like Ginny, Hermione, Ron and Harry. And I get to have Syaoran with me all the time now, which is nice."  
"I imagine," he replied, his lips twitching. Sakura stuck her tongue out at him when Ginny came through the classroom door, with a smile. "Good afternoon, Miss Weasley. I hope you are less of a trouble maker than your two elder brothers. I caught them selling some sort of food that turned people into canaries."  
Ginny grinned. "Fred and George tried to get me to eat one. However, they learned their lesson I think."  
"I'm glad to hear it. I also hear that you are helping my young friend out, leading her through the school. This place is rather hard to manage," he sighed.  
"It's fun leading her around. It reminds me of when I didn't know my way around here at all. Besides, she helps me out on my homework so it's even."  
Sakura blushed. "I'm not the best at school work so I don't know why you need my help. However, it is fun hanging around you and your friends, Ginny."  
"Now, why don't you two girls sit down? Class will begin soon." The girls nodded, continuing to chat about different things until the room filled and Eriol signaled the start of class. "Good afternoon, fourth years. Mr. Creevey, please put the camera away, yes under your desk will do. Now, I was informed that Professor...Moody, taught forth years about curses and things one might expect to see directly sent at you if ever you are in a sticky situation. Since no one objected to last years agenda, I thought I'd teach along similar lines."  
The whole class began to whisper excitedly at getting to have the cool lessons that they had heard about the year before. "Now shall we begin?"  
  
Harry spent most of the day with Hermione and Ron in the library attempting to find out their new friends' secrets. There had been clues laid here and there but nothing much to give them any sufficient leads. All and all it was beginning to irritate Harry immensely. He had a feeling that the teachers knew everything they were trying to find, most likely the whole Order did. More people were keeping secrets from him and it was ridiculous. Hadn't he done enough to gain people's trust? Hadn't he experienced enough that they could make him count for an adult in these stupid meetings of theirs?  
When lunch came and went without any more knowledge gained, Harry left the researching to Ron and Hermione, who were beginning to bicker, straining his last nerve. Leaving the library, he strolled out into the courtyard where he immediately laid eyes on Li, studiously working over a book. After watching for a few minutes, Harry saw that he was taking notes rather than doing homework. Even though those notes had helped Ron and him out numerous times, he still felt a little bitter that the Chinese boy could manage to get so much done so quickly when Harry was barely managing to hang on.  
"Are you just going to stand there and watch me for a few hours, Potter, or did you have something in mind?" Li asked, not bothering to look up.  
For a moment, Harry wondered how the other boy even knew he was there, but then he remembered that Li often seemed to know when people were coming, even from a long way away. Shrugging, Harry walked out into the courtyard. "What are you taking notes on?"  
"Arithmancy," Li replied, still keeping his eyes trained to the books.  
"Hermione seems to love that class. Is it fun?"  
Li shrugged. "If you like math and numbers. Sakura and Meiling would probably hate it. I think Daidouji is taking it too. She's better at descriptions, so you might ask her instead."  
It was the first time Li had ever offered more information than was needed to Harry. He usually stayed close to silent whenever Sakura wasn't around. There had never been much time when Harry saw Li interacting with any of the other transfer students so he couldn't see if that was just the way he was.  
"It's probably better than Divination," Harry sighed, sitting beside the other boy and pulling out his Divination homework. Since the incident with Sakura's weird cards, Trelawney had moved onto dream interpretation, something Harry found himself dreading.  
"It takes a lot of magic to be able to predict the future so I can't imagine the class would do much good. Specially since Meiling told me the rumour is that the teacher is a quack."  
"What did Sakura say about it?" Harry asked, despite himself.  
Li finally glanced up at Harry with an unreadable look. Harry felt distinctly uncomfortable but tried not to show it. Finally, Li looked back down at his work and replied, "Sakura is not the type to talk bad about a teacher. Nor does she think badly about people in general."  
Harry nodded, sighing internally. She was definitely the type who liked everyone and was generally affectionate. While that probably meant all those times he had seen her hug Li it was probably a friendly thing, it also meant that those times she had given him that breathtaking smile of hers, it was for the same reason. "So, Li, the question of the week seems to be how you can do all your homework, be so good at magic and still have time to take notes. How do you do it? Seriously, this is the year for O.W.L.s and you seem as if it were first year."  
Li shrugged. "I'm used to having nothing to do but work. Once that sort of thing is engrained in you I guess it never stops. Besides, transferring into a new school is no excuse to let my grades slip in my mother's eyes."  
"Tough on you?" Harry asked. He really couldn't imagine someone having it harder than he did. Well perhaps Neville had his troubles since his own parents didn't recognize him. But getting yelled at a little for having bad grades didn't seem like much.  
Li paused in his writing, drawing Harry's attention further. "Last time I had middle range marks I had to train with the Elders for two months instead of with Wei. I'm still surprised I lived through that." After a moment he went back to writing again.  
'Live through?' Harry thought. Li was probably exaggerating but still, the tone of voice he had used seemed serious. Without further conversation, Harry began to work on his homework. Still, in the back of Harry's head, he wondered just what this boy had been through to make him so serious. Something told Harry he wasn't sure he really wanted to know.  
  
"It will be weird flying on something again. I think Fly spoiled me, Syaoran," Sakura giggled as she and Syaoran made their way to the Qudditch Pitch where tryouts were being held.  
"You are still going to out fly everyone else. Stop being so nervous," he replied, nudging towards where she could sit down and watch the rest as they went through the motions. Sakura was looking around, wide eyed, at everything around her and missed Harry coming up to her until he was standing only a foot away.  
"Sakura, sign up over there where Ron is. The git didn't even tell me he was trying out," Harry muttered, pointing in the direction of where the signup sheet was.  
"Ron's trying out for Keeper?" she asked.  
"Yeah, but don't worry. If you manage to make the team he won't hold it against you." Harry smiled at her reassuringly before waving and heading back towards where the rest of the team waited.  
Sakura watched him leave and looked over at Ron again. "I'm going to wait to sign up, Syaoran. I want to make sure I can do this beforehand."  
Syaoran looked at her for a moment before shrugging. "Your choice. Why don't we go sit over there?" he said, motioning to where Madame Hooch was sitting, carefully watching over the students.  
Sakura nodded and followed him up the steps. When they reached the seats, the teacher looked over at them. "Aren't you two of the transfer students?" she asked. When they nodded she did as well. "Yes, Dumbledore wanted me to give you a brief lesson along with the other two, make sure you knew your bearings. I've already had a session with Miss Daidouji and Miss Li. Are you two planning to try out today?"  
"No, ma'am," Sakura instantly replied. Syaoran looked at her a little funny but didn't object, much to her relief.  
"Well then," Madame Hooch said with a small smile. "After they find their Keeper why don't we go through that session? Dumbledore gave me the impression that you already knew how to fly, just needed a refresher course, so I'm sure it won't take that long."  
"Thank you, Madame Hooch. That would be very nice," Sakura said, smiling in her trademark fashion. Then she turned to watch the tryouts without looking around her again. She was fascinated truly at how quickly they were all moving and reacted with each other. Sakura easily recognized the different positions that Harry and Ron had described to her a few nights before. She also recognized the different balls, excepting for the Golden Snitch which she understood they hadn't been using yet.  
Tryouts lasted well into the evening, ending finally with a meeting between players. At this time Madame Hooch signaled that they should return to the ground so they could start class as soon as everyone left the field. Sakura and Syaoran followed behind, more slowly since Syaoran tugged on her robes to indicate he wanted her to slow down.  
"Why didn't you try out, Sakura? I thought you really wanted to," Syaoran asked with obvious confusion.  
"You'll see," she answered with a smile. Skipping the rest of the way down the stairs she was almost immediately tackled in an enormous hug from Fred and George.  
"Ickle Ron made the team!" Fred exclaimed.  
"Heard you were going to try out though, Sakura. What gives?" George asked.  
She laughed when they finally let go of her. "Didn't think I'd be good enough," she smiled.  
"Too bad. It'd be nice to have another pretty girl on the team. Though don't let Angelina hear I said that," Fred whispered, glancing warily towards the captain.  
"Suppose we should get stuff for a celebration feast later, wouldn't you say, Fred?"  
"Right-o, George."  
The two left only moments before Ron and Harry came up to them. Ron was on Cloud Nine and was talking extremely fast about how excited he was and that he wasn't going to let the team down. Harry rolled his eyes at Sakura and Syaoran before interrupting his babbling.  
"Decide not to tryout after all, Sakura?"  
She shook her head. "No, but maybe next year. I didn't think I'd be able to do it this year, you know not with being new to the sport and all."  
Ron grinned at her. "Good thing too. Knowing my luck you would have made it and I'd have been left out while Fred and George took the mickey out of me for the rest of the year."  
Sakura was about to reply when Madame Hooch approached them again. "Ready for your lesson, Kinomoto, Li?" They both nodded and the teacher turned to Ron. "Weasley, would you mind lending them your broom for a few minutes? I understand that they know how to fly a little already so I'm sure no harm will come to it."  
"Oh, sure," he replied, happy to have a broom to be borrowed. "Li's helped me out enough already, glad to return the favour."  
Syaoran nodded his head in thanks as he took the broom from Ron. Quickly he turned to follow Madame Hooch onto the pitch. Sakura yelled, "Ganbatte, Syaoran-kun!" then proceeded to chew on her lip. He had never flown without her before and she was a little worried.  
"What's that mean?" Ron asked.  
"Oh, it's sort of like good luck," she replied, turning to smile at him briefly.  
"I don't think Li needs luck. Look at him, so proud! He doesn't look nervous at all," Ron observed.  
"That's just how he is. I don't think if you held him over a precipice he'd look nervous." As she spoke, Syaoran took flight and Sakura let out a breath of relief. He wasn't amazing but he was still pretty good. He went around the pitch a few times before returning to where Madame Hooch was standing.  
"He's pretty good," Harry said, unable to hide how impressed he was. "Has he flown much before?"  
"Never by himself," Sakura replied without thinking causing the other two to look at each other in confusion. A few minutes later, Syaoran came up to her and smiled a little.  
"Go shock her socks off, Sakura," he muttered and winked at her.  
She laughed before running off to where the teacher was waiting. Madame Hooch instructed her to fly around for a minute or two and then come back to her. If there was anything wrong with her technique she'd be informed and Sakura could try again with it fixed.  
Mounting the broom, Sakura giggled a little as she took off into the sky. It had been so long since she had flown, a couple months at least, and it felt wonderful. Without thinking, she performed a few tricks, zigzagging between the goal posts, doing a quick flip, before she realized that she was taking too long. Quickly she hurried back to the teacher.  
  
Harry watched in awe as the green eyed slip of a girl flew as if she had been doing it her whole life. At the end she made a sixty foot dive before landing flawlessly beside an amazed looking Madame Hooch. If she had tried out earlier, Sakura would definitely have made the team. Even more, people had called Harry a natural but he wasn't sure that even he could do some of the things he had seen her do.  
"I didn't know my broom could do that. Sure you didn't give her yours, Harry?" Ron breathed.  
Harry nodded silently, before glancing at Li. There was no surprise on the Chinese boy's face. Instead he was just smiling with amused pride at how well his friend flew. "She always been that good, Li?"  
The other boy shrugged. "As long as I have known her, she has. But she'd already been flying by then. You'd have to ask Daidouji, she has the first time Sakura ever flew on video."  
Harry nodded, turning back to the subject under discussion as she skipped back to them, carefully holding Ron's Cleansweep Eleven. When she finally reached them, Sakura handed it back to Ron with a gracious thank you, causing the red-haired boy to blush furiously.  
"It's been so long since I've flown! That felt wonderful!" she exclaimed with childish glee.  
"How long have you been flying?" Harry asked, curious to see if she had, like most wizards he knew, been flying since birth practically.  
"Oh, I first flew when I was ten. After that it seems like I was always flying," she giggled, glancing at Li with a significant look. Harry realized then that there was something unusual to how she learned to fly, but didn't press the matter.  
"Come on, Ron," he said, changing subjects. "I think Fred and George are preparing a celebration that we should get to."  
"I just hope they don't pass out any of those things they've created. I'm going to end up like Neville." Night had fallen as they crossed the grounds to get back to the entrance. When they were in sight of the doors, they stopped to watch a group of people walk up the steps. One figure stood out among the rest, a shorter figure walking a little in front of the rest.  
  
When Harry saw them, he felt a horrible pain from his scar and in his stomach. Wincing, he grabbed his forehead and waited until it subsided. When they passed into the hall, the pain slowly faded away and he finally heard Ron talking to him.  
"Harry, what's wrong mate?"  
"You okay, Potter?" Li asked, a little bit of worry in his voice, surprising Harry a little.  
"Nothing out of the usual," Harry muttered before continuing to walk.  
"Your scar is hurting again? Shouldn't we tell Dumbledore then Harry?"  
"No. It's been happening a lot lately. I'm sure it's something he already expected. We don't need to bother him." Harry really just didn't want to talk to him, sure that it would be brushed aside.  
"What is the matter with his scar hurting?" he heard Sakura ask a little bewilderedly.  
"That means-"Ron started before Harry interrupted.  
"There isn't a big deal. It just happens sometimes so don't worry," he smiled at her. The last thing in the world he wanted was to appear weak in front of this beautiful and amazing girl. "Come on, we're late."  
  
(A/N: I hope to be updating again soon. There is only one more chapter prewritten left, I think. After that the updates will be MUCH farther apart due to length of chapters and lack of free time. Also I hope to finish DotS, SotM before I work on this more seriously. SO yeah...REVIEW! Ja) 


	6. The High Inquisitor

Update! A lot later than originally supposed. Mostly because I haven't been in the mindset to write more and I didn't want to make it endless before I updated again. But then, that already happened. So voila!  
  
Review people: (there are still few enough for me to address individually, how nifty...and sad. Sigh.) NET: Thank you for your compliment. I work hard to make sure that they do combine so well. That is the main reason this takes so long to write. Arigatou! Nightglider: Thank you! Hikari Mizu: Nope, it's the Cleansweep Eleven. Though Cloud Nine does sound like a nifty broom. StarsLover: Again, thank you! I'm glad that people find appreciation in trying not to deviate. Personally it bothers me when people get too far off base, but I'm just anal like that.  
  
Anyway, thank you for the reviews! Read! Review!  
  
Disclaimer: I own neither Harry Potter or Card Captor Sakura. Actually, I own all books and videos. All together that is one heavy load let me tell you. Hard to lift.

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The High Inquisitor  
  
Harry was the first one awake in the boy's dormitory the following morning. For a long while he thought over the previous night's events and the discussion he had had with Hermione before she tiredly crawled up the stairs to head for bed.  
"Harry, you should tell Dumbledore about your scar hurting like that," she urged, echoing what Ron had said earlier.  
"I'm pretty sure the only thing about me that Dumbledore cares about is my stupid scar," he had muttered in return, causing Hermione to frown and look a little upset. He didn't want to upset her really, since he knew she was tired and just trying to help but when she reminded him that he wasn't supposed to write letters to Sirius, the only person he knew outside of his friends that really cared, he was just irritated.  
Rolling out of bed, Harry decided to ignore her and write a short letter to his godfather, making sure to keep it in code. He spent a lot of time agonizing over it before thinking it was good to send. Glancing around to make sure that Ron was still asleep, he made his way down the dormitory stairs and through the common room. Once out in the hallways, he breathed a sigh of relief.  
The walk to the Owlery was more or less uneventful, putting aside a warning from Nearly-Headless Nick to steer clear of Peeves while the poltergeist was still in the mood to do bodily injury. However, when Harry entered the Owlery he was startled into immobility.  
"You are such a pretty bird, Ying Fa. I can see why Syaoran's mother liked you so much. Now go straight to my daddy and brother. I'll tell Syaoran where you went and he won't mind."  
The brown owl hooted out her briefly before setting off into the sky. She watched it, wistfully Harry thought, before turning to give him a friendly smile. "Morning Harry. Are you sending a letter to?"  
Again, Harry wondered just how they managed to sense people's presence, even who they were, without looking. It was rather eerie. But Harry only thought of it for a moment before saying, "Morning" and motioning for Hedwig. "I'm sending a letter to my friend."  
"Oh, is that your owl! She's so pretty!" Sakura cooed, petting Hedwig. The white owl loved the attention and hooted at her affectionately. "I bought a kitten and named it after my brother. I should have named it Kero though because all he does is sleep!"  
"Who's Kero?" he asked.  
For a moment she stilled, as if realizing she had said something wrong. Then she smiled again. "He's one of the creatures bound to me. Anyway, I have to be going. I promised to spend the whole day with Tomoyo." She turned to leave and skipped down the stairs. Harry watched her for a moment, noticing how beautiful she looked in the early morning light. With a small sigh, he gave returned his attention to Hedwig.  
"Make sure this gets to Sirius," he instructed, petting her feathers. "Have a safe flight." He watched her fly off for a minute and was turning to leave when he noticed something peculiar. Above the trees of the forbidden forest, a green horse looking creature with wings circled before diving into the treetops. It was unmistakably one of the creatures he had seen drawing the carriages on the first day.  
The whole scene shocked Harry so much that when the door to the Owlery opened behind him, he leapt around in shock. Quickly he realized it was Cho Chang with a letter and parcel.  
"Morning," he said without thinking.  
"Oh! Hiya Harry." She was panting and had obviously run from somewhere to here. "Didn't think anyone else would be here this early on a Saturday. Me, I only just remembered a few minutes ago that it's my mum's birthday."  
"Right," Harry replied, still mentally stuck on what he had just seen. However, somewhere in the back of his head he realized that he wasn't as excited to see Cho as he usually was. Finally he shook off the weird feeling and motioned to the windows. "Nice day isn't it?"  
"Good Quidditch weather. I heard that Tornado-hater became Keeper. Is he any good?"  
Harry shrugged, "He's got potential to be a really good Keeper." In truth, Ron hadn't been the best who had tried out but the others had been iffy in other categories. Again Harry wondered why Sakura didn't tryout but didn't say anything.  
"I saw that new transfer student when I was coming up here. Her name is Kinomoto right?" Harry nodded. "Apparently, she and Tomoyo Daidouji are best friends. Tomoyo and I get along pretty well and she's always telling me about Sakura."  
"Sakura told me they were in school together since the beginnings of primary." Harry shrugged, wondering where this conversation was going. He also couldn't help but feel a little antsy talking to Cho about Sakura.  
"Half the guys in school think she's pretty. Do you?" she asked, only looking at him through the corner of her eye.  
"Uh, well she is pretty. But then you are pretty too," he said quickly when she began to look upset.  
Smiling, Cho straightened her shoulders, as if with new confidence. "That other new Gryffindor is pretty cute. I heard his name is Li Xiao Lang. I have relatives in China and they've mentioned the Li family being really powerful magically speaking. No one knows how really, but..." she broke off with a shrug.  
"He's kind of a bastard," Harry muttered, missing the small smug smile Cho gave briefly when he said this. "I get the feeling that it would take years with a torch to get past that guy's coldness."  
"Really?" she asked, genuinely interested.  
"Yeah, he hardly talks except when Sakura is around. I think Sakura told me once that he doesn't do well with new people.' Harry shrugged, not particularly caring about the situation. "Anyway, I've got to go. Talk to you later, Cho."  
"See ya, Harry."  
  
"I still wish I had my camera! You just look too kawaii in your uniform, Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo said for probably the hundredth time since the day had started. She and Sakura were free range roaming the halls.  
"Hoe, I'm almost glad that you don't. I mean, there are so many people who watch me everywhere I go as it is. If you were recording me half the time as well I don't think there would be any privacy left for me."  
Tomoyo sighed. They walked in silence for a moment, lost in their own thoughts. Unbeknownst to either party, every male eye within eye sight was trained on their figures. Seeing amazingly beautiful girls was something unusual to begin with, but to see two walking side by side, completely unconscious of the fact that they were drawing so much attention, was a rarity. And it was because that neither Sakura nor Tomoyo seemed to notice the attention they attracted that very few girls cast them evil glances. Those who did were from Slytherin anyhow.  
"So," Tomoyo began slyly after the long pause. "Have you and Li-kun kissed yet?"  
Immediately the other girl blushed the deepest red. "Tomoyo-chan! Don't ask me things like that so loudly in public!"  
"Sakura-chan," Tomoyo laughed. "We are both speaking Japanese."  
"But the lovely Sakura-san and you are not the only ones who know the language, Daidouji-san."  
"Eriol!" Sakura whined, her blush deepening, if possible. "Tomoyo I'll never forgive you for this."  
Tomoyo laughed evilly, covering her mouth with one hand. "Just answer the question, Sakura-chan. I'm sure Hiiragizawa-san won't tell anyone."  
Blushing furiously, Sakura shook her head. "Not yet. We just started seeing each other after years apart! I mean..." she trailed off, no longer capable of speech.  
Eriol's lips twitched a little as he pat the girl on the shoulder. "OH, I'm sure my cute descendant won't mind something like that."  
"HIIRAGIZAWA ERIOL-SAN!" the slip of a girl screamed attracting all attention in the hallway. Everyone went silent, staring at the beautiful girl who was shaking her fist at the new professor. Even more amazingly he was backing away with his hands held up in surrender. What was so threatening about her?  
"Gomen nasai, Sakura-chan. Still, I do believe I'm right."  
"Hai! I think a dare is in order here, Sakura-chan. I dare you to kiss Li-kun the next time you see him alone."  
"Tomoyo-chan!" Sakura gasped, blushing again. "I-I-I," she stuttered unintelligently.  
"I'll take that for a yes. If you don't do your dare I'm sure we can find some way to torture you." Tomoyo and Eriol grinned at each other, much like two teens with a secret, causing the other students to look at each other in amazement.  
"Hoeeeee."  
  
Harry had a rotten day. After he had gotten back from the Owlery Hermione and Ron showed him the Daily Prophet. Apparently someone had recognized Sirius at the station and reported that he was seen in London, causing the three to wonder furiously who could have seen him. Hermione also noticed a small article that made them all even more nervous. One of the Order, Sturgis Podmore, had been sentenced to six months in Azkaban for attempting to break into the Ministry. They figured it was a frame up but nothing could be certain at the moment.  
To make matters worse, Qudditch practice had been a nightmare. Half the Slytherin house had showed up to hassle them as they practiced. Everyone managed to ignore them except for Ron who hadn't ever had to deal with the heckling. And that was on top of him already being nervous. Practice had barely lasted a half hour before they had to stop when Katie's nosebleed, arguably from either Ron hitting her in the face with the quaffle or one of the twins new inventions, wouldn't stop and she had to be taken to the hospital wing.  
Hermione naturally assumed that Ron was the source of the horrible practice, which in truth Harry had to admit he partially was, which set Ron off further. He and Hermione were yelling at each other when Sakura entered the Common Room and quickly stopped the argument. Harry thanked each of his lucky stars by name that someone managed to shut the two up.  
"Now, Ron, without yelling, tell me why practice was so bad?" Sakura asked with patience.  
Ron blushed furiously, much to Harry's amusement, before stuttering out what had happened. He didn't even bother to leave out his own bumbling, which Harry was sure he would have in the other boy's position, especially when such a pretty girl was the one listening. But Sakura didn't tease and only nodded at all the right parts, her jade eyes showing that she was furiously thinking of a solution to their problem.  
"Okay, when is the next practice?" Sakura asked after Ron had finished and lapsed into an embarrassed silence.  
"Angelina rescheduled it for next Saturday," Harry answered. "Why?"  
"What time?" Harry answered her, his curiosity growing. "Okay, I think I may be able to help this next time. But really Ron, you have to learn to play with distractions anyway. I'm sure they won't let up on you during the actual games." She said it in such a sweet way that Ron didn't get riled again.  
Harry watched her leave a few minutes later, promising to return in a few minutes. In just a few minutes she had calmed the situation completely, something no one else had managed before. Hermione and Ron's squabbling was almost legend in the Common Room and she had silenced them in moments.  
He was still musing over this when she and Ginny came back to the common room, chatting amiably. Sakura was holding a small kitten, most likely the one she had told him about earlier. When they reached the floor, the kitten leaped from her hands and immediately went up to Crookshanks, who stared at it for a moment in consideration. With what could be construed as a shrug, the marmalade cat looked away and began flicking it's tail to entertain the younger cat.  
"Your cat is very intelligent, Hermione. And so pretty too."  
Hermione smiled at the younger girl. "Thank you. What is yours named?"  
"Touya," Sakura replied with a sad smile.  
"You named him after that idiot?" someone behind them asked. Harry turned around and saw Li holding a few books in his hand and staring at Sakura with incredulity. Harry remembered that she had named her kitten after her brother and thought it was kind of funny that Li obviously didn't get along with him.  
"I really wish you and oniichan would get along with each other," she sighed. "Besides, little Touya here acts like him a little."  
"You mean he is ridiculously overprotective and threatens violence on anyone who comes near you?" Li muttered. Harry bit back a laugh at the mental image their conversation brought forth. For some reason he found it hard to believe that anyone would threaten this imposing looking boy.  
The jade eyes got a sly look in them as she smiled mischievously. "Oh, he just doesn't like you. And after all, can you blame him? The first time he met you, you were attacking me. And then..." she trailed off. The sentence was full of implication, leaving their audience dying to know just what else had happened.  
"You attacked Sakura?" Ginny asked. "I don't think I can imagine that at all. You act so protective towards her."  
"Oh, we argued constantly when we first met. Eventually things changed but at first we didn't get along at all!" Sakura giggled entrancingly. Harry wondered how anyone could not get along with her or any reason why anyone would attack her. She was too genuinely likable.  
Li sat down in the chair beside Harry heavily. He looked a bit irritated and more than a little embarrassed at the way the conversation was flowing. Harry wanted to laugh at him almost, that the great Li would be so easily discomfited by such a slip of a girl. But something told Harry that he'd have a much shorter life span than already expected if he did so, so he repressed his amusement and turned to watch Hermione as she and Ginny began talking.  
After a few minutes had passed in separate conversations, Sakura spoke up again, drawing everyone's attention. "Umm, what are all of you doing tomorrow?"  
"Normally, Harry and me would be doing homework all day, I think," Ron laughed. "But thanks to Li here I have most of mine done." Harry agreed, feeling slightly nervous as to why she was asking.  
"It's the first weekend of term so most things aren't scheduled yet. I'm free anyway, so is Ginny," Hermione answered. "Why do you ask?"  
"Oh, well, Tomoyo said that she wanted to talk with all of you again since she got a good impression from you when we first met. Meilin is coming too. We were all going to meet out by the lake tomorrow if you wouldn't mind coming."  
Harry felt even more butterflies pop up into his stomach. More than anyone she was looking at him with her pleading eyes. Why did she want him to meet her friends so much? Did they want to pester him about being the Boy Who Lived? Whatever it was, it meant he got to spend the day in her company so he quickly agreed. The other three quickly gave their assent as well and Sakura grinned.  
"Oh, and Syaoran, ignore Tomoyo. She has another one of those ideas in her head and she teamed up with Eriol this time." Again, Harry noticed she said Eriol and wondered just how close they were to the professor, especially since her best friend and he were obviously plotting something that made her nervous.  
"Sakura, I found that where Tomoyo and Hiiragizawa are concerned, it's almost always best not to know."  
  
"Yeah and Rika and Mr. Terada are getting married in three years. They finally announced it. They've been engaged since the fourth grade too, can you believe it?"  
Sakura was gossiping cheerfully with Tomoyo and Meilin while they waited for Harry and Ron to meet them. Hermione and Ginny were listening to their conversation, asking questions about this and that. After all, no matter what country you are from or if you even know the people involved, girl talk is girl talk.  
"You mean your friend was engaged to her teacher in the fourth grade?" Ginny breathed. "That's gross. I mean can you imagine to being engaged to anyone here at Hogwarts? I mean think about it. Snape?"  
The girls were still giggling when Harry and Ron finally made their way to the small group. Immediately everyone was reintroduced, though really everyone remembered each other quite well. Almost instantly after that, Tomoyo grabbed hold of Harry's arm and started to drag him away from the others.  
"We are just going to take a walk around the lake. Don't worry we'll be back shortly," she chimed over shoulder while Harry got a hunted look.  
  
When Harry was allowed to walk on his own again, he kept his silence, occasionally glancing at the pretty girl walking beside him. Earlier on the train he had received the impression that she wasn't part of the Harry Potter fan club and was somewhat startled by her actions now.  
"Oh, I think we are far enough away now," Tomoyo finally said, glancing back towards the others who were laughing and talking to each other.  
"Er, far enough for what?" he asked nervously. There was a look in this girl's eye that he just didn't quite trust.  
"Oh, you needn't worry, Mr. Potter, I just wish to talk to you. It's been my priority to get to know all of Sakura's new friends. She is very trusting, as I'm sure you've noticed, and I want to make sure no one hurts her. She's had enough of that," the raven haired girl finished with a sigh.  
  
Harry wondered at the last statement. When he looked at Sakura he couldn't imagine her having been hurt once in her life, or that anyone would want to. "Er, okay, but can you not call me Mr. Potter? Makes me feel like I'm talking to a professor."  
"I apologize. I'll call you Potter than," she smiled. Briefly he wondered why not his first name but then he remembered that she called Li by his last name as well. "Anyway, can you tell me more about yourself? I really don't know that much about you or, actually, anyone here since I'm so new to this place."  
Harry blinked and a wash of bitterness came over him. Of course she wanted to know about the great Harry Potter, perhaps see if he was really insane and would hurt her best friend. Really he should have been expecting it. "I'm not insane, no matter what you read in the Prophet."  
Surprisingly, Tomoyo giggled. "I never thought you were. Nor do I care about anything to do with Voldemort. If I did I'd ask elsewhere since I'm sure you are tired of hearing about it. After all, even Sakura got tired of talking about everything after a while."  
Harry actually stopped walking from the shock. Even Hermione and Ron never told him to stop talking about Voldemort. Even more she was expecting it and she also said his name instead of that ridiculous You-Know-Who.  
"You know, I think I like you, Daidouji. Can I call you Tomoyo?"  
She nodded. "But only on the condition that you tell me something about yourself."  
"Done," he smiled.  
For the next quarter hour, Harry and Tomoyo discussed his likes and dislikes. He told her how much he hated living with the Dursley's and how much he envied everyone around him for having at least one parent there to love them.  
"You have the Weasleys don't you?" she observed in response making Harry pause to think. True, since they had met on the platform and shown him how to get to the train, the Weasleys had more or less acted like a family to him ever since. Well, perhaps Percy wouldn't anymore but he didn't miss that.  
When they were once again approaching the group, Harry's eyes were immediately drawn to Sakura as she laughed with Ginny and Hermione. The sun shone down on her honey coloured hair and sparkled as she turned her head every so often.  
"You are always looking at her, Harry," Tomoyo observed quietly.  
Harry blushed and tore his eyes away from her. "I don't even know why really. Am I that obvious?"  
Tomoyo shook her head. "Not really, to me perhaps since I watch those who watch her. But you have a kindness in your eyes and curiosity." She paused, chewing on her lip a moment as if trying to phrase something correctly. "It is not mine to tell," she finally started, furrowing her brow a little, "but you are not the only to watch her like that. But she has eyes only for one person, Harry. It is her nature."  
Harry nodded, pretending he understood the cryptic meaning behind her words. Never since he met her had she trained her eyes on one person, following them. If she had, Harry would have noticed. More often than not, Sakura's eyes were fixed on him when he was around. Did that mean she liked him?  
"Tomoyo! Meilin said that she found a Ravenclaw guy she kind of likes! You have to introduce them!" Sakura laughed, running up to them.  
"Kinomoto! You are going to pay for that," Meiling hissed as she joined them. Harry watched as the three girls began talking furiously for a moment before breaking off into giggles. They rejoined the group and Tomoyo latched on to Hermione in the same fashion that she had to Harry a half hour before.  
"We'll be back!" she cried as she left. Harry wondered as he watched her leave, just how much Tomoyo knew. And how much information would forever remain concealed behind those amethyst eyes.  
  
Night had fallen many hours ago, and while the day had been eventful and tiring, Sakura simply couldn't get to sleep. It had been both nice and a little weird to sit with everyone like that, new and old friends meeting and getting along just as well as if they had known each other for more than a couple days. It made Sakura feel more at home and miss her family less when she was able to have fun like that.  
As she turned over in her bed yet again, Sakura felt another spurt of magic from the common room downstairs. It had been occurring about once an hour for some time now. It only lasted for a couple seconds so she had for the larger part, ignored it. This time however, it returned quickly and sustained itself.  
Yawning tiredly, she wrapped her robe around her loosely and picked up Touya, making her way down to the Common Room. Walking silently, so as not to scare any body who she was trying to spy on, she slipped slowly down the stairs, only to find Harry, Hermione and Ron kneeling before the fire talking to someone whose head was sticking out of it.  
Curious, she approached them still silent until she was able to recognize the face as it turned to look at her in surprise. "Oh, hello Mr. Black," she yawned.  
Harry, Ron and Hermione jumped and whirled towards her. "Sakura," they nearly shouted in unison. Sakura jumped a little in response and rubbed her eyes.  
"What?" she yawned.  
"How do you know Sirius?" Harry asked after a moment.  
"I had a dream about him," she replied tiredly. It was close enough to the truth to count.  
"Do you normally dream about real things," Hermione asked with a touch of incredulity colouring her voice.  
"Yes," she replied shortly. Looking back towards Mr. Black she found herself asking, "Doesn't that hurt?"  
The head in the fire laughed a little. "I'm going to assume you are Miss Kinomoto. Dumbledore told me about you."  
Sakura watched as the three turned to look back at him in shock. "You know about her too?" Ron asked.  
"When you are stuck inside a house twenty-four/seven you tend to learn a lot of things. At one of the last Order meetings they mentioned four exchange students and then later Molly told me that two of them had been sorted into Gryffindor."  
Harry was about to ask something when Syaoran poked his head from the stairwell, briefly assessing the situation. "Is that what it was?" he asked Sakura, indicating the spurts of magic.  
"Yeah, go back to sleep, Syaoran. You look tired."  
"I'm fine," he replied, joining them. "Isn't that Black?" he asked when he got close enough to recognize the head, ignoring the three stunned figures.  
"Don't tell me you dream about real things too," Harry muttered darkly.  
"No, but his picture was in the Prophet this morning. He doesn't look quite as scraggly but it's still him."  
Sakura wanted to giggle at the look of amazement that spread over their friends faces as she pet Touya absently. She had no clue why Mr. Black was sitting so comfortably in the fire or what reasons he had to be here anyway. Still she didn't think it was too polite to ask.  
"I guess, I'll leave you alone now. I just wanted to know what the magic I felt was."  
"Oh, I need to leave anyway, I can hear Kreacher coming. Still, I think I would be a good idea for me to-," he started before Hermione and Harry cut him off with an abrupt, "NO!" "Fine, fine. Good night then. Take care, Harry." A moment later he was gone.  
The five Gryffindors stared at each other for a moment. It was obvious that three of them were still trying to understand some things and the other two were merely staying out of politeness.  
"I think we all need to have a talk," Hermione finally said. "But tomorrow. I'm tired." Everyone nodded in agreement and gathered their things to head up to the dormitories. Sakura stayed behind to look at the fire for a moment. She was tempted to stick her hand in it, to see if she too would be unharmed.  
"Don't risk it, Sakura," she heard Syaoran say, his voice tinged with amusement.  
She turned around and shrugged. "I want to know how he did that. But I guess I can just ask them all tomorrow." Suddenly she realized that it was just the two of them now, alone. The dare Tomoyo had given her sprang go her memory as she looked over at Syaoran who was standing at the windows.  
It was now or never.  
Hesitantly, chewing on her lip, Sakura slowly made her way over to Syaoran, who was staring at her intently. When she was finally standing in front of him, still not speaking, she drew in a deep breath and went to her tip-toes, quickly brushing her lips over his. At least that was what she meant to do.  
Syaoran quickly realized what she meant to do and as soon as he felt her lips on his, he quickly put one hand on the back of her neck, effectively trapping her there. Sakura stilled in surprise for a moment then slowly slid her hands up his chest and wrapped her arms around his neck. Encouraged, Syaoran wrapped his arm around her waist and deepened the kiss.  
When they separated a couple minutes later, Sakura stared up into his amber eyes and they both smiled in a shared happiness. As it had happened so many times in their past, no words were needed and they just stayed as they were for a few moments. At last, Syaoran bent another brief kiss on her lips before letting her go.  
"Good night, Syaoran," she said sweetly as she gathered Touya in her arms again. The kitten swiped his claws at Syaoran when he tried to get near her again, causing them both to laugh.  
"He really is like your brother," Syaoran muttered as he followed her from a distance to their separate dormitories.  
"Oniichan just doesn't like you because you are stealing me away from him and he won't have his little sister around anymore."  
"Too bad for him he's right," he grinned back at her before leaving her at the door that entered into her rooms.  
"Good for me though," she giggled as she slipped into her bed once more, hoping to dream about what had just happened all over again.  
  
But no explanation was to come the next morning as the tired Gryffindors filed their way into the Great Hall. Murmurs were circulating through the room as people looked at the Head Table. There was unmistakably one additional figure sitting among the rest, though no one could tell why. Everyone asked each other if they knew the answers and some were even trying to find the courage to go up to the Headmaster and ask themselves.  
However, they needn't have worried. As the flocks of owls came sweeping down bearing letters and the Daily Post a large front page article answered them as efficiently as any of their questions could have. Everyone pored over their or the nearest copy of the Daily Prophet in fascination.  
Sakura finally pulled away from Syaoran and looked at Professor Umbridge in both the picture and real life. At last, after a thorough inspection of both, she turned back to Syaoran, chewing on her lip slightly. Everyone near her at the table saw the obvious confusion and malcontent written across her face. It was almost like a drop of black on a Monet such was the contrast to the usual.  
"Sakura what's wrong?" Ginny finally asked as the girl remained silent.  
"I just have a very bad feeling about this," she answered slowly.  
"How bad a feeling?" Syaoran asked, a calculating look lighting in his eyes.  
She chewed on her lip for a moment longer then shook her head. "I think I'm going to talk to E- Hiiragizawa after breakfast."  
Syaoran rose his eyebrows in surprise. Sakura never distrusted anyone, never disliked being around any particular person. Now she was going to go warn Hiiragizawa about someone? Did this lady really spell out that much trouble?  
The hum of voices was suddenly silent as the toad-like lady in question rose from her seated position and in a surprisingly high pitched voice coughed. "Hem hem."  
(A/N: shudders)  
"Students, as I'm sure you just read, I am Professor Umbridge, the new High Inquisitor for this school. You may be asking what someone such as me would be doing at a school that many consider to be completely out of the realm of the Ministry of Magic. Perhaps it is time that I clarify my position here...."  
And thus she began a long and drawn out speech that had half the student body falling asleep in their chairs or talking quietly. But a few students were riveted. Hermione, Syaoran, Sakura and Tomoyo could scarcely draw their eyes away from the horrible little figure until finally she stopped droning on and the students were allowed to go to their first classes.  
Sakura watched as the four fifth years got up and started heading towards class. Quickly she reached out and grabbed Syaoran's sleeve. He turned to look back at her with a questioning look. She frowned and let go of him.  
"Whatever you do, Syaoran, please don't make her mad. I don't think she'll take it very well."  
Syaoran looked down at her as she pleaded so desperately. Without caring who saw them he reached up and caressed her cheek. Carefully brushing the hair away from her eyes he smiled down at her.  
"Don't worry, Sakura. I won't do anything stupid."  
She grinned up at him and while no one was looking, a fact of which she mad certain, she reached up and kissed him quickly before heading over to talk to Tomoyo. Syaoran stared after her with a small smile on his face, the kind he would be afraid to be caught dead wearing unless it was for her. Then at last, he turned to join the others for History of Magic.  
  
Lunch came and went. It was as Sakura was leaving with Tomoyo that Eriol pulled them both aside. Sakura quickly assessed the situation as a bad one as the two exchanged grins.  
"So...Sakura-san. Have you done your dare yet?" Eriol asked as Tomoyo giggled a little. "I'd hope so considering the display I saw this morning."  
Sakura turned a bright shade of scarlet and Tomoyo's eyes widened. "Nani? What did I miss? And me without my video camera! What did they do, Hiiragizawa-san?"  
"Nothing much. Just exchanged a kiss where all the school could see."  
"You didn't," Tomoyo breathed as Sakura pointedly looked away. "You did! But this wasn't the first time was it?"  
Sakura shook her head, still unable to speak. Matters were made worse when Syaoran walked towards the three, curiosity plain on his face.  
"Why is she a bright shade of red?" he asked Tomoyo, gesturing towards Sakura.  
"Why don't YOU answer that question, Li-san?" the raven haired girl giggled.  
Immediately, the Chinese boy's eyes widened as he realized his mistake. Quickly he calculated whether or not he could escape intact or if he might be able to bring Sakura with him. With a second glance at the gleeful look on their faces, he decided it.  
"Uh, I just remembered I have, uh, class. Sumimasen. I must be going." Quick as lightening he turned around and ran from the room.  
Sakura stared at his retreating figure before screaming after him, "Li Syaoran you coward!"  
A number of heads turned to see the interesting scene as the beautiful new transfer student screamed at the equally good looking boy who was running away as if his life depended on it. She had shouted in English leaving all of them wondering just what this boy who seemed so fearless would be running from so quickly.  
Sakura sighed. "Hai, we kissed before, last night."  
"How was it?" Tomoyo asked quickly.  
"It was...nice," Sakura blushed. "Anyway, can we please change the subject before I start talking about why Eriol-kun keeps staring at you Tomoyo-chan?"  
Tomoyo's violet eyes immediately lighted on Eriol, who was suddenly looking nervous.  
"Uh, actually, I had something to ask you about Sakura-chan before you head to class." Whit his calm demeanor regained he smiled at Sakura serenely. "You have the second afternoon class free don't you? How would you like to help me out with that beastly woman Umbridge?"  
  
Returning from what had to be the worst Divination class yet, Ron, Harry and Sakura were talking quietly over the actions of the new High Inquisitor. Harry had never really felt sorry for the teacher before until she was set against Umbridge. Sakura had even tried to help the poor witch by giving suggestions but Dolores Umbridge seemed to have something against the young green eyed girl and had told her to stop speaking or else.  
Ron and Harry were about to jump to her defense when Sakura stopped the both of them, obviously afraid of the circumstances if such a thing happened. Harry was upset with her for taking the harsh blow but had kept silent. Still in his eyes he wondered at anyone who would take abuse and not fight back. Lost in thought, it wasn't until they reached the classroom that Harry and Ron realized that Sakura had walked with them the whole way instead of leaving them early as she usually did. When Harry asked her why she just smiled and shook her head.  
"Er- Professor Hiiragizawa asked me to come talk to him for this class. He informed me that Professor Umbridge would be monitoring it."  
Ron and Harry looked at each other with a pained look before entering. Sakura quickly waved at Hermione and Li but remained outside the door, surprising both of them. Harry went to his seat and looked at the Chinese boy for a few minutes before shrugging. He hadn't even waved back to her, but that was his problem not Harry's. He and Ron continued to talk about Divination until shortly before class started, when Umbridge walked in and stood against the far wall of the room, looking pointedly at the two of them.  
"Where is Professor Hiiragizawa?" Hermione asked, pointing out something that they hadn't noticed earlier. "I hope he's not late for his own class when Professor Umbridge is here."  
"Don't worry about that bastard," Li said, startling the other three. "He's too smart to fall into her traps and is probably setting one of his own."  
"How do you know that?" Hermione asked quietly.  
"Experience," Li answered succinctly leading Harry to wonder just what happened between the two.  
They were all interrupted in their conversation when Professor Hiiragizawa entered the room shortly before class was due to begin. Paying no mind to Umbridge, who was still standing on the far wall, he strode in, pausing to stand in front of his desk.  
"Good afternoon, students. I'm sure you have all come eager to learn and I am, as ever, eager to teach. Now, today we will begin-," he stopped, cut off by a permeating noise.  
"Hem hem."  
As polite as ever, the professor turned to look at Umbridge where she stood. "Yes, professor?"  
"Good afternoon, Professor Hegasawa," she said with her unnaturally girlish voice, causing Harry to shudder. "You received my note, I trust? Giving the time and date of your inspection?"  
"I beg your pardon, but it's Hiiragizawa," he smiled politely, with a daring glint in his eye, causing Harry and Ron to quickly suppress laughter at the shocked look on the frog lady's face at being corrected. "And yes I received your note of course. Please, why don't you take a seat?"  
"I would prefer to be near you, to better view your actions, professor," she insinuated slyly.  
"Then I'm sure you would be more comfortable seated since I will be as well for most of the class, or at the board. Please, sit," Hiiragizawa ordered crisply, a touch of authority slipping into his tone.  
Harry was sure that the professor would immediately get sacked but instead Umbridge merely sniffed and took a seat in an unoccupied chair towards the back of the room.  
Hiiragizawa turned to the class once again, smiling as calmly as ever. "As I was saying, today we will begin learning a different defensive method than you have learned before. It will have nothing to do with your wands so please, put them away."  
As Harry looked, Hermione's eyes widened as she looked at one of her respected teachers in anguish. It was the year for O.W.L.s and he was going to be teaching them things that weren't on the exam? The students began to murmur amongst themselves but obediently put there wands away. This was much to the satisfaction of Umbridge who began marking in her notebook with a small smile.  
"Now, settle down. It is best known that the best way to protect yourself is not offense but a good defense. And the best way to defend yourself is to know your opponent. Correct?"  
The students around Harry murmured affirmation, looking around shiftily. Were they going to be learning spy methods? What was the professor talking about? Harry looked at Li who was, characteristically, frowning at Hiiragizawa. However, unlike everyone else, he seemed to know exactly what the professor was talking about.  
"Now, who in here can tell me what an aura is?" Hiiragizawa asked.  
As expected, Hermione's hand shot up and was called on. "An aura is the manifestation of a person's life force. It is said to flow around every living being like light."  
"Very good, Miss Granger. 10 points to Gryffindor. Does anybody else have anything to add?" he asked, looking around. When no one else spoke up, he seemed to be even more amused but not disappointed by the lack of information his students had.  
"Well, it is to be expected perhaps," he smiled before walking to the door and opening it. Immediately everyone craned their head to look at what was going on and many gasps could be heard as Sakura was led in to the room. She was being led because she was blindfolded. He whispered something quietly, to quiet for Harry to make out, that caused her to nod and stand still where he left her to close the door.  
"Hem hem," a voice coughed from the back of the room.  
"Yes, Professor Umbridge?"  
"May I ask what that Fourth Year student is doing in this Fifth year class, Professor H-, professor."  
"Why, Miss Kinomoto graciously accepted when I asked her to assist me in this class. She has a free period at present and was more than happy to help."  
"Do you normally need the help of...students...to teach, professor?" Umbridge asked, her voice touched with disdain.  
"When the student is as exceptional as Miss Kinomoto, perhaps. Could I teach this class without her help, of course. Does her presence make it easier, indeed. Now, your pardon, but if you wish to judge my teaching methods it would be helpful to allow me to teach."  
Harry was barely able to suppress a loud bark at laughter when he said this. Li may think Hiiragizawa was a bastard, but Harry couldn't help liking him. Nor could Hermione or Ron, judging by the looks of it.  
"Now, as I said, Miss Kinomoto has more than graciously offered her assistance. Now, if you please, miss?" Sakura nodded and smiled pleasantly, before stepping a little closer to the students in front of her. "Will you please tell me who is seated in each seat, starting with Professor Umbridge?"  
Sakura nodded. "There would be Professor Umbdrige then the rest of the row is empty. In the row below that there is a girl I don't know, Miss Brown, Miss Patil, another girl I do not know. In the row below them is Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger and then Syaoran. Below them there is a boy I don't know and then Mr. Longbottom and another boy I don't know who is beside an empty chair."  
Harry's breath caught as she unmistakably placed everyone in the room, even being able to tell if a boy or girl sat where she didn't know people's names. It was unbelievable. Looking around, he noticed that everyone very much agreed and was whispering about it. Everyone but Li who looked a little amused and proud of Sakura. Something about the look on Li's face irritated Harry, but at the time he was still too awed to analyze it.  
"Settle down, children. Now, can anyone tell me what Miss Kinomoto did that allowed her to spout that information?"  
"She peeked in while we weren't looking," Dean Thomas laughed.  
"Oh," Sakura blushed. "I'm sorry if you think so, but please don't believe that. I'm sorry I don't know your name either!"  
Dean blushed causing everyone else to laugh a little. "I was only joking."  
"Does anyone have a serious answer?" Hiiragizawa asked again. "Ah, Mr. Li why don't you enlighten us?"  
Harry looked over at Li, who had pointedly not raised his hand, and tried to gauge just how much the Chinese boy wanted to murder their professor. However, after a minute the rage passed from his features and he sighed.  
"She read our auras," he stated succinctly.  
"But, if everyone has an aura what is so special about that? Please clarify, Mr. Li," Hiiragizawa prodded.  
Sighing once more, Li sat up further. "While everyone has an aura, each person has an unique aura. This is even more noted when the said person has magic. The stronger the magic, the larger and more powerful a person's aura is. They are also extremely distinctive. Once someone has felt another's aura it is possible to tell it from every other aura they come across, much like a finger print. They are also associated with colours. Is that enough?" he muttered at the end, so low that only those on his row could here.  
Hermione stared at Li in blatant respect that bordered on adoration for a few minutes before hurriedly trying to take all of that into notation. Harry was not so adoring and felt almost murderous towards the other boy who seemed so sure of himself. He was a show off, and a despicable one at that.  
"Correct, Mr. Li. 15 points to Gryffindor. Now, before I begin teaching you the methods to learn how to be able to feel your own individual aura's I will ask Miss Kinomoto to do one last thing. Oh and you may remove the blindfold."  
Smiling, Sakura untied the cloth that covered her eyes and politely handed it back to Professor Hiiragizawa. Without further instruction, the petite girl closed her jade eyes and breathed deeply. Suddenly her eyes flashed open again and Harry felt something hit him. It wasn't a hard hit or even really physical but still he felt as if something hand encompassed him. When he thought on it, it felt pleasant and warm, inviting.  
"I am going to assume all of you felt that?" Hiiragizawa asked, pausing a moment to wait for stuttering affirmation. "That is what someone's aura feels like when it is projected on to you. This happens in one of several occasions: when you are close to them, when they are particularly strong, or when they have mastered the ability to project their aura. Are there any questions?"  
No one raised their hand and Harry couldn't blame them, still awed by the sensation that was now slowly fading. Concentrating on Sakura again, he blinked his eyes a few times. It may have just been the light, but he was sure the could see a soft pink glow around her. But when he looked away and looked back it was gone.  
Harry was barely able to concentrate as Professor Hiiragizawa went over the mediation methods they would use to try and sense their own aura. He caught just enough to be able to use them during the rest of class, or at least pretend to. Harry was actually striving to meditate when he heard Umbridge stand up and walk to the front of the class.  
"I know I won't have to ask how long you have been working here, Professor, but I would like to ask what makes you feel qualified to hold such a position," she asked, eyeing Sakura where she still stood near the desk.  
"I have years of knowledge in defensive magics, professor. If you want a full list of my accreditation I would ask that you get it at a later time when we both have longer to discuss."  
Her eyes narrowed as she marked a few things down furiously and receded to one side of the room. When there was ten minutes left of class, Hiiragizawa interrupted them in their meditation. Harry had become so quieted that the sound of his soft voice startled him near to death and by the looks of it, he wasn't alone.  
"It is understandable that not much progress will have been made in this short amount of time. However, for homework I want everyone to meditate until they believe they can tell me the colour of their own aura. With that said, are there any questions?"  
Harry, all of a sudden had the greatest curiosity. Upon reflection of what he had felt earlier and the slight prickling he was beginning to feel now, an idea struck him.  
"Professor, does Voldemort have an aura that he could overpower people with?"  
Harry was able to catch the softening of the professors eyes before he was cut short of a response by Umbridge who quickly stood up. "I believe, Mr. Potter, that asking such hypothetical questions would be misconstrued. There is no need for useless knowledge."  
Harry looked at her as if she were mad. "But it's not hypothetical. Voldemort is alive and back!"  
"You are mistaken, Mr. Potter," she breathed, her voice rising in volume.  
"I'M NOT MISTAKEN! I FOUGHT HIM!" Harry found himself shouting.  
"DETENTION, Mr. Potter! With me for one week starting tomorrow."  
"Bu-," Harry began before he felt a hand on his arm. Startled he glanced over at Li who was looking at him warningly. After a moment he shook his head. Tearing his arm away, Harry breathed deeply, trying to calm himself in the face of that monster.  
Hiiragizawa looked around pointedly. "And with that, class is dismissed."  
Everyone began packing their things and left the room in silence. Harry couldn't help but feel the eyes boring into him as his classmates filed out of the room, that Umbridge woman leading the way. He wanted to scream at all of them that he wasn't insane and that they were being foolish. But something inside him told him it was useless. With a sigh her rose and began looking around at the only occupants left in the room, Hermione, Ron, Sakura, Li and himself were left with the professor who sat down tiredly on his desk.  
"Sudden change in lesson plan, Hiiragizawa?" he heard Li ask causing him to pay closer attention on the conversation. Ron and Hermione were doing the same and the three of them walked towards the professor and two exchange students.  
"I had a feeling that if I started teaching you counter curses I'd be gone within a day. Beastly woman. I think you should turn her into a toad, Sakura. She looks enough like one."  
The jade eyed girl giggled a little before shaking her head furiously. "No, Eriol. Everyone deserves their chance. Maybe she is a good person, just misguided."  
Li rolled his eyes. "It would take her sacrificing children before you believed badly of her." Glancing around he caught sight of Harry and the others. "And you shouldn't let her get to you, Potter."  
Not wanting to be patronized, Harry stiffened. "Stuff it, Li."  
"Really, Mr. Potter. He is only trying to be nice, despite his seeming inability. He's right too." Hiiragizawa sighed. "She seems to be out for you, so be careful. And remember, if you let her get to you, let her cause you to react so she can punish you, she wins."  
"He's right, Harry," Hermione interjected. "Promise me you won't look for a fight."  
Harry sighed, outgunned and outnumbered. "Fine."  
Hermione then turned to the professor. "Um, not to be disrespectful, Professor Hiiragizawa, but if you do not teach us what we need to know, how will we pass the O.W.L.s?"  
The professor stared at her with twinkling blue eyes for a long moment before grinning softly. "Perhaps you can find someone else to teach you." Hermione looked at him oddly before a sort of understanding flooded her features. "Now, it is almost time for dinner so you should all be off."  
"Bye, Eriol!" Sakura waved before hooking arms with Hermione and leading the way from the room.  
"Goodbye, Sakura. And thank you for your help again."  
Harry, Ron and Li watched as the two girls trailed before them in the halls. "I wonder why he got Sakura to help so specifically. Li, you obviously knew what he was talking about, which means you can probably do all that aura nonsense," Ron pointed out. "Why didn't he ask you? Or why didn't he do it himself?"  
Li shrugged. "Because she is better at it."  
"Wow, that's some high magics, like he said. To be better than a teacher!" Ron marveled.  
"You have no idea," Li muttered low enough that Harry could barely hear. But he did hear it and in addition to everything else, it made him wonder all the more.

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(A/N: LOOK! I found the EDIT/PREVIEW section! Anyway, I have no clue when I will be updating next. Hopefully I will begin writing this fic again soon, since I haven't been at all lately, and will have more up relatively quickly. In the meantime, Shameless plug Go read my other stories if you haven't already and tell me what you think! I promise that the more happy things I get to read the better I write.  
  
Well not really, but it at least makes me feel like my writing is appreciated since this is the fic I can profit off of the least. Sigh. REVIEW! Ja!) 


	7. A Good Defense

(Extensive A/N at bottom. Sorry for the shorter chapter…but to add anything more would take away from the feel…and add more time before update.)

**Disclaimer: **….I think it is well established that I own none of the above.

* * *

A Good Defense

To say the least, Angelina's reaction to Harry's detention was not a pleasant one. If possible, it made him even angrier than he had been previously to know that he was now letting down the team by getting detention. He was furious and treated everyone with a short temper until McGonagall's treatment of the new High Inquisitor lightened his mood slightly. Secretly he held dear the idea that no matter what Umbridge made him do, he could call up the look on her face as she was dressed down to cheer him up. So it was with great reluctance, but determination, that Harry went to detention ready for anything.

Several hours later, afflicted with a sickening understanding of the new interruption in his life, Harry left detention and made his way back to the dorms. The back of his hand felt inflamed and raw but was still unmarred taking away all proof of the atrocity that woman had thought to commit. Still, Harry swallowed the thought of telling on her before it had even properly formed in his head. He wouldn't run to a teacher for help. He wouldn't run to Dumbledore. He wouldn't tell anyone because if he did, she would win. In silence he swore to bear through the week and watch Umbridge more carefully from then on.

-----

Two nights later, Harry left the room barely able to contain his rage. The back of his hand was throbbing and he could feel blood seep slowly from the shallow cuts. She had even kept him until a few moments before curfew, souring his temperament even more as he made the mad dash back to Gryffindor Tower. So, in truth, it was to have been expected that his irritation only magnified when he saw someone waiting purposefully at the end of the hall. He didn't really need to look to recognize the Asian boys piercing amber eyes watching him approach.

Harry wondered briefly if he could get away with just passing Li by, but realized quickly the futility of the idea when the other boy smilingly stepped in front of him, effectively blocking his way. Thus, Harry sighed and looked at him scornfully.

"What do you want, Li?"

Instead of answering, the other boy reached out and grabbed Harry's sore hand. It took all he had not to cry out at the sudden magnification of the already screaming pain. Gritting his teeth, Harry allowed Li to inspect his hand thoroughly. He would have given anything to have the ability to disapparate from this situation which he was becoming rapidly more annoying by the second and found himself cursing under his breath about stupid wizarding laws.

"That woman do this to you?"

"Something like that," Harry replied bitingly.

Li nodded. "You should use some herbs on that. Otherwise it will get infected. You won't be able to use your hand if that happens." He paused a moment before saying, "And you should probably tell someone in authority what that woman is doing."

Harry tore his hand away from Li and glared at him. "I don't need to go crawling to a teacher," he replied scathingly.

"Whatever, Potter. Just make sure you do something about that hand." With this said, Li turned on his heel and headed towards Gryffindor tower. Harry stared after him, wondering if he might have been seeing things, because for a moment he could have sworn that he had seen a glimmer of respect grow in the other boy's eyes.

Sighing, Harry looked around for a second before following Li. Silently, he wondered if Hermione would know what he could put on his hand.

-----

On the last day of his detention, Harry sat with Hermione, Ron, Sakura and Li as they all quietly did their homework. He didn't feel much like doing homework himself, especially since his hand was extremely tender and bleeding from the still fresh cuts. Instead he watched everyone else and devised ways to get revenge on Umbridge. They had been sitting like that for some time when, after some few minutes of worrying her lip, Hermione let out a sigh of frustration. When everyone looked up at her she blushed sheepishly but answered their unasked question.

"I mean nothing against Professor Hiiragizawa, because I am learning a lot from him, but we are never going to pass our O.W.L.s like this. This is not the year to deviate from our coursework."

"Umm, what do you mean, Hermione?" Sakura asked.

"Well, instead of working on counter-curses like we should be, we are learning how to sense auras. That is undoubtedly helpful in the long run, but not what we are going to be tested on."

"Oh."

"It's not like we can do anything about it, what with Umbridge being such a prat," Ron muttered as he handed Harry a bowl of picked murlap tentacles to soak his hand in.

"Well," Hermione began thoughtfully, "I was thinking perhaps we might be able to do something."

"Like what," Harry asked looking at the undesirable goop in the bowl with a sigh.

"I'm fairly sure she'd be able to sense poison," Ron chimed in.

"Nothing like that, Ron! No…I was thinking perhaps we should teach ourselves."

Ron and Harry looked at her askance. "You mean you want to do MORE work outside of what homework we already have? Are you nuts?"

"This is much more important," Hermione insisted.

Everyone made a face of shock at these words, even Sakura and Li who had quickly taken Hermione's measure when it came to homework. "You think something is more important than homework, Hermione?" Ron exclaimed. "Are you sick?"

"Of course not! This is much more important. Homework is just for grades, but counter-curses…that is for life. No offense again, Sakura, Li, I know how much you like Professor Hiiragizawa."

Li snorted derisively while Sakura just nodded. 'We understand."

"So what do you propose to do about this, Hermione? It's not like we can really teach ourselves."

"No," she said in a drawn out, considering sort of way. "But there is someone who can teach us."

"Who?"

"Well, it has to be someone who has already had a lot of experience in using them, and who could show us how to use them readily enough."

"Get at it already!" Harry grumbled. "Who do you mean?"

"You, Harry. I think you would be perfect."

Harry's jaw dropped. "No, I wouldn't! If you want a teacher, why don't you do it! You make better grades than I do!"

"Not in defense against the dark arts. You made the better grade in that Harry."

"Well, why not Li then! Or Sakura? They are making better grades than I am now!"

Before either of them could speak up, Hermione interjected, "It's not about grades, Harry! It's about what you have done! You have already done so much more than any of us!"

"What have I done that is so special!"

As Hermione and Ron began rattling off his list of accomplishments, Harry could feel his ire rising. They were talking about all of it as if it were child's play that he had done so easily. He knew better than anyone how much luck had been involved and how close he had come to dying each time. Unable to stop himself, Harry exploded in anger.

"Stop making it sound so easy! You don't know what it was like! You don't know what it was to go against him! It isn't just spells you memorize and cast! It is luck and thinking and hoping with everything in your being that you just survive! And it is being unable to think straight for fear that in the next moment you will die or stand there and watch your friends get tortured...or killed. It is not something so simple!"

The group had gone silent, Hermione in silent tears as she watched her friend. "That's why we need you, Harry. Because you know what it is like. Because you've done it. We need to know what you know. We need to know what it is like to face V-Voldemort."

It was the name that broke through to Harry most. It was the first time she had called him by name and not by that silly you-know-who. She meant what she said.

"I…I'll think about it."

"That's all I'm asking, Harry." Hermione smiled and stood up. "I think I'll go up to bed now. Goodnight."

"Me too," Ron added awkwardly. "You two coming?" he asked Harry and Li. When they both shook their heads, he turned and headed up on his own.

Harry sat down again, not even had realized he had stood up until that moment, and tried to ignore the looks he knew Sakura and Li were giving him. He sat there staring at his hand for a moment before he heard a movement. Looking up he saw Sakura standing next to him. Softly she reached down and touched his hand, just that.

"It's okay, Harry. Remember that everything will absolutely be all right." With a small smile, she turned and went to the dorms, Li walking a sort way behind her.

As he watched her go, a thought occurred to Harry that struck him hard. The look in Sakura's eyes had not been pity or sympathy, but rather understanding. Somehow he felt that she KNEW what he was talking about, that she had been there. For the first time, Harry wondered just what she had been through.

------

"Are you sure we need to do this, Kinomoto?"

"I know it seems a bit silly, Meilin-chan, But I think it would be a good idea. And you don't have to come if you don't wish."

The Chinese girl sighed. "Might as well come."

"Besides, it will give me more time with Sakura-chan," Tomoyo nearly squealed.

Syaoran resisted the urge to chuckle at the look on Sakura's face. Instead he noticed the Weasley twins and a friend enter a shabby looking building up ahead of them. "I think that's where we need to be."

The four entered the dank room and were a little startled at the sheer number of people there were present. Sakura was a little afraid there would not be room and smiled graciously at George Weasley when he found seats for them.

Sakura glanced around and noticed right away the Chinese looking girl hat was staring at Harry with a bit more avid interest than was really called for. Sakura continued to observe everyone quietly as they settled in, noting the many looks from those gathered and the somewhat stressed look on Harry's face as he looked at everyone watching him. At last, her attention was caught as Hermione spoke up and began to introduce the session. It was much what she expected to hear, so Sakura found her attention once again wandering as her eyes drifted back to observing people. After a few minutes, she turned to smile at Syaoran and at last returned her attention to Hermione just in time for her to deliver her proclamation.

"Because Lord Voldemort is back."

The reaction was instantaneous and startled Sakura. One girl screamed and several made distressed sort of noises. In fact, the only ones lacking a reaction were Harry, Sakura and her friends. She noticed that their lack of reaction didn't go unnoticed by the bushy haired girl, but didn't take the time to worry as the conversation dissolved into a "my word over yours" battle over Voldemort's return.

One boy in particular began to badger Harry about what had happened. Sakura watched as Harry's face steadily darkened more and more as he finally replied. He firmly swore off telling an account of his battle with Voldemort to those who he believed only came to hear such a speech. Even Hermione felt the strain on the mood and Sakura was about to speak up and help her two friends when a girl spoke up and completely turned the conversation with a short question about something called a Patronus.

Sakura watched as suddenly people began to give accounts of what Harry had done. The change in atmosphere was absolute. They had gone from doubt to awe almost instantly. Sakura didn't venture to speak for the rest of the meeting, even when they began to squabble needlessly. However, when Hermione brought out a piece of paper, she perked up and sat forward to inspect it.

The feel of magic surrounded the paper. Quickly, Sakura looked around the group to see if anyone else noticed what she had. No one did. At last, she turned to look at Syaoran, who was himself inspecting the paper. Eventually, he glanced at her and shrugged.

Sakura nodded. He obviously didn't think there was anything dangerous to it. So when it came time to sign, Sakura did so without hesitation. The meeting ended shortly after that and people began to disperse quickly. Sakura and the others stayed behind until only Harry, Ron and Hermione where left.

"Ano…Hermione, may I ask you something?"

Hermione's eyes widened, but she nodded. "Go ahead. You didn't say anything earlier so I assumed you didn't have any questions."

"Oh, it's not about the meeting. It's about the paper we just signed.

Hermione frowned. "What about it?"

"I was curious what kind of spell was placed on it."

The older girl looked shocked for the briefest of moments before answering, clearly disconcerted. "I put a jinx on it so if someone snitched it would be painfully obvious who it was."

"Oh," Sakura said with a relieved smile. "Just making sure. Ill see you later then," she grinned as she left with Tomoyo, Meilin and Syaoran, leaving behind three very startled teenagers in their wake.

"That girl certainly is clever, isn't she?" Tomoyo noted as they entered the streets once more.

"Almost as cunning as you, Daidouji-chan," Meilin replied.

"My only issue is with how easily everyone was swayed. Aside of the Weasleys and the twins' friend, everyone bounced back and fourth between what they one thought and another. Disloyal, fickle bunch."

"Don't be harsh, Syaoran. There were more people than that. Especially, that girl who waved at Harry as she left."

"I think she likes him," Meilin commented.

"I don't know," Sakura frowned, thinking about what she had read in her aura. "But poor Harry-kun seems so stressed. I don't know if this is a good idea for him."

"It will help him a lot," Syaoran observed quietly. "He has a lot of pent up stress and emotions. I think teaching people to help themselves will help him. Make him feel less useless and give purpose to what he's been through."

"I think he needs a long break from his own life," Sakura noted quietly.

"Unfortunately, I don't think he will get rest for a really long time. Not until this is done," Syaoran sighed, wrapping his arm around Sakura in an unusually public display of affection.

Silently, everyone agreed.

Meanwhile, at the Hog's Head, Harry watched as Hermione pulled out a different piece of paper and began scribbling.

"Then I'm not the only one who thinks it is really odd that she knew about the spell," Harry pointed out as he watched her tally up their latest clues.

"That and they were completely devoid of reaction when I mentioned Voldemort. By now, they should understand enough to be even slightly afraid of him. I noted they didn't seem the least bit moved. I think that is a bit suspicious."

Silently, Harry agreed and thought on it as Ron and Hermione when on to talk about Ginny. For some reason, Harry was beginning to think that these people were even more special than they originally thought they might be. The idea wouldn't leave his head and even replaced all thoughts of Cho and how she'd smiled at him.

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Author's Note: Ack! Way too long between updates! Life has been far too crazy for me and I didn't even realize how long it had been since I updated until I started work on my FFX-2 fic. So, I updated!

It is not my best work, for that I beg forgiveness. More than half of it was written some time ago and it is always hard to go back and insert new material without ruining the flow…so I did it as little as possible…which is why it is so short.

Hopefully the next update will come soon. I make no rash promises. I am going to try to work on all of my fics…or at least work on each of them individually until they are finished. No new ones until I get another one finished.

Thanks to all the LOVELY reviews I have received on this story. They mean the world to me. Please feel free to ask any questions, I am more than happy to respond in anyway you leave for me.

Thank you and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!


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